Table 5 Chemical compositions, fermentation characteristics, and microbial populations on 60 days of ensiling

DM (%FM)

31.46 ± 0.72a

31.37 ± 0.51a

30.76 ± 0.62a

31.29 ± 1.00a

0.1562

0.8148

CP (%DM)

7.92 ± 0.85a

8.59 ± 0.75a

8.40 ± 1.09a

8.27 ± 0.91a

0.1269

0.8731

NDF (%DM)

46.44 ± 1.94a

46.17 ± 0.74a

46.61 ± 1.42a

44.32 ± 0.33a

0.5285

0.2707

ADF (%DM)

39.23 ± 1.29a

38.52 ± 1.59ab

36.36 ± 0.78b

36.73 ± 1.59ab

0.6928

0.1003

WSC (%DM)

0.16 ± 0.03b

0.25 ± 0.06ab

0.23 ± 0.07ab

0.33 ± 0.04a

0.0351

0.0412

LAB (log10 cfu/g FM)

4.36 ± 0.33c

5.84 ± 0.38b

7.37 ± 0.19a

4.68 ± 0.32c

0.6810

 < 0.0001

Mold (log10 cfu/g FM)

ND

ND

ND

ND

ND

ND

Yeast (log10 cfu/g FM)

5.19 ± 0.36a

2.93 ± 2.54ab

1.44 ± 0.12b

3.37 ± 0.51ab

0.7706

0.0614

Aerobic bacteria (log10 cfu/g FM)

5.80 ± 0.14a

4.96 ± 0.69a

4.66 ± 0.50a

4.85 ± 0.84a

0.2512

0.1949

Coliform bacteria (log10 cfu/g FM)

ND

ND

ND

ND

ND

ND

pH

4.51 ± 0.04a

4.20 ± 0.01c

4.16 ± 0.03bc

4.38 ± 0.09b

0.0515

0.0074

LA (%FM)

0.85 ± 0.03c

1.46 ± 0.09a

1.16 ± 0.15b

1.08 ± 0.05b

0.1253

0.0005

AA (%FM)

0.21 ± 0.03b

0.19 ± 0.04b

0.76 ± 0.29a

0.20 ± 0.01b

0.1396

0.0106

PA (%FM)

0.23 ± 0.14a

0.18 ± 0.06a

0.17 ± 0.03a

0.21 ± 0.03a

0.0154

0.3185

BA (%FM)

0.31 ± 0.07b

0.00c

0.00c

0.86 ± 0.12a

0.2028

 < 0.0001

NH₃-N (%TN)

1.17 ± 0.08a

1.04 ± 0.22a

1.01 ± 0.07a

0.94 ± 0.13a

0.0469

0.4076