The effects of biological additives on the fermentation process and fibre composition of farm-scale grass silages

The effects of bacterial and enzymatic additives on the course of fermentation process and on changes in the fibre composition of grass silages were investigated under farm-scale conditions over three years. Fourteen silages were prepared from die back grass stands in each of three variants, with no additive (control), with inoculants of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and with LAB combined with cellulase and hemicellulase. The content of lactic acid was significantly (P<0.05) elevated, while the degree of proteolysis decreased (P<0.01) in both variants with the additives. The changes in the fermentation processes resulted in pH values about 4.8 and 4.3 in the control and the variants with additives, respectively. The qualitative parameters of fermentation were very similar for both the groups of additives.