Improvement on the Nutritive Quality of Napier Grass Silage through Inoculation of Lactobacillus plantarum and Formic Acid
Abstract: The potential
availability of forage feed is high, but in reality this potential has not been
able to meet the requirement of feed both in sustainable quantity and quality.
Silage made with the use of liquid fermentation additive (FA) can be a solution
for those problems. The use of different
levels of FA and addition of Lactobacillus plantarum bacteria as well as formic
acid were expected to improve the nutritive quality of napier grass silage. The
first experiment was designed to measure the fermentative quality of napier
grass silage. The treatments used were the levels of FA, L. plantarum, and
formic acid supplementations. The experiment used a completely randomized
design with a 3x2x2 factorial arrangement with 3 replications. The first factor
was the level of liquid FA (5%, 7.5%, and 10%), and the second factor was the
inoculation of L. plantarum (without and with inoculation of the L. plantarum),
and the third factor was the addition of formic acid (without and with the
addition of 0.15% formic acid). The second experiment was aimed to evaluate
chemical and microbiological characteristics, and in vitro digestibility of
selected napier grass silage. The results showed that napier grass silage from
all treatments showed good qualities. There were interactions between FA, L.
plantarum, and formic acid on DM content (P<0.05) and ammonia production
(P<0.01). The use of FA showed an interaction (P<0.01) with the addition
of L. plantarum and formic acid in Fleigh point. Ammonia production in rumen
(P<0.01), total VFA (P<0.05), and in vitro digestibility (P<0.01) were
significantly affected by the treatments. The optimal level of liquid FA was
7.5%. Based on the nutritive quality of silage, L. plantarum addition was as
effective as control treatment to improve nutritive quality of napier grass
silage through the increased of
fermentation characteristics i.e., low pH, high DM product, high fermentation
product (VFA), and digestible on rumen. Formic acid reduced ammonia production
during ensiling and fermentation in rumen, but it was less effective in
inhibiting the fermentation process when it was combined with L. plantarum.
Author: Saprilian Stya
Hapsari, Heri Ahmad Sukria
Journal Code: jppeternakangg160031
