Effects of applying lactic acid bacteria to the fermentation on a mixture of corn steep liquor and air-dried rice straw

This study was to determine the fermentation quality of a mixture of corn steep liquor (CSL) (178 g/kg wet basis) and air-dried rice straw (356 g/kg wet basis) after being treated with inoculants of different types of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The treatments included the addition of no LAB additive (control), which was deionized water; homo-fermentative LAB alone (hoLAB), which was Lactobacillus plantarum alone), and a mixture of homo-fermentative and hetero-fermentative LAB (he + hoLAB), which were L. plantarum, Lactobacillus casei, and Lactobacillus buchneri. The results showed that the inoculation of the mixture of CSL and air-dried rice straw with he + hoLAB significantly increased the concentration of acetic acid and lactic acid compared with the control (P < 0.05). The addition of he + hoLAB effectively inhibited the growth of yeast in the silage. The concentration of total lactic acid bacteria in the he + hoLAB-treated silage was significant higher than those obtained in other groups (P < 0.05). The duration of the aerobic stability of the silages increased from 56 h to >372 h. The control group was the first to spoil, whereas the silage treated with he + hoLAB remained stable throughout the 372 h period of monitoring. The results demonstrated that the he + hoLAB could effectively improve the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of the silage.