Effect of Moisture and Additives on the Fermentation Quality and Chemical Composition of Bamboo Silage

Abstract

Bamboo forest is now unused or used limitedly in Japan. We conducted the following five experiments to use bamboo as a main raw material for silage processing. Plant fractions of leaves and culms in two types of bamboos, Japanese timber bamboo (Phyllostachys bambusoides) and moso bamboo (P. pubescens) were examined for chemical composition of silage under three levels of moisture content of 35, 45 and 55% (Experiment 1), and under three levels of additives, sake lees (SL), lactic acid bacteria RO50 (RO50), and both SL and RO50 (Exp. 2). Silage fermentation quality in whole plant of moso bamboo was examined under three levels (5, 10 and 15%) of additives of SL and molasses (Exp. 3), and under addition of RO50, cellulase, molasses, and SL (Exp. 4), and chemical composition of bamboo silage in Exp. 3 and 4 were examined in Exp. 5. The results indicated that the silage quality did not change with moisture content; however, adding 5% SL significantly lowered pH and increased crude protein of silage, whose quality was evaluated as high because of low concentrations of butyric and propionic acids.