Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of acremonium cellulase (AC) and lactic acid bacteria inoculant (LAB) on the fermentation quality and feeding value of guineagrass silages. In Experiment 1, wilted and chopped primary growth herbage was treated with water (control) or AC+LAB and ensiled in 500 1 silos. In Experiment 2, first regrowth herbage was treated with water (control) or AC, AC+LAB before ensiling. The additives improved the fermentation quality of the silages. Compared with control, additives treated silages had lower pH ; higher contents of lactic acid, total acids, residual WSC and Flieg's score ; lower butyric acid and ratio of volatile basic nitrogen to total nitrogen. The second harvest herbage produced marginally better quality silages than its first harvest counterpart. LAB treatment had synergistic effects with AC treatment. The AC and AC+LAB treated silages had lower contents of crude fiber, NDF, ADF, cellulose and hemicellulose but higher contents of crude protein, crude fat and NFE than control silages. In Experiment 1, dry matter, organic matter, crude fat and NFE digestibility coefficients of AC+LAB silages were significantly higher than those of control silages. However, in Experiment 2, digestibility was not significantly improved by AC and AC+LAB treatments compared with the relatively better preserved control silages. The DCP and TDN contents of AC and AC+LAB treated silages were greater than those of the control silages and the differences were more pronounced in the first cut silages.
