Effect of growth stage on Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) silage fermentation from microbiological perspective

Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture

Table 1 The chemical components and epiphytic microbiota of fresh Italian ryegrass at two growth stages

Items	The filling stage	The dough stage	SEM	P value
pH	6.12	6.75	0.143	< 0.001
Dry matter (g/kg FM)	226	347	7.089	< 0.001
Water-soluble carbohydrates (g/kg DM)	145	84.8	3.964	0.002
Buffering capacity (mEq/kg DM)	49.0	42.6	1.891	0.084
Neutral detergent fiber (g/kg DM)	527	570	2.182	0.014
Acid detergent fiber (g/kg DM)	322	347	5.905	0.007
Crude protein (g/kg DM)	62.7	59.1	1.200	0.142
Lactic acid bacteria (Log₁₀ cfu/g FM)	4.33	5.42	0.198	0.032
Aerobic bacteria (Log₁₀ cfu/g FM)	8.54	8.00	0.270	0.374
Yeasts (Log₁₀ cfu/g FM)	5.29	3.07	0.587	< 0.001
Enterobacteria (Log₁₀ cfu/g FM)	5.34	6.01	0.168	0.016

FM, fresh matter; TN, total nitrogen; cfu, colony-forming units; SEM, standard error of mean