No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Six different cotton gin trash silages were studied which varied according to the rehydrating medium (water or whey) and the strain of L. plantarum, if any, used for inoculation. Silages were incubated at 34°C and analyzed at weeks 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 for counts of lactobacilli, total anaerobes, and sporeforming anaerobes. Biochemical measurements included pH, proximate analysis, volatile fatty acid analysis, and lactic acid analysis. Counts of lactobacilli and total anaerobes followed similar trends in all experimental silages with numbers greatly increasing by the end of week one and then subsequently declining. Counts of sporeforming anaerobes increased ten-fold by the end of the second week. Subsequent counts showed that the water-rehydrated silages maintained this increase whereas the whey silages decreased in numbers to their original magnitude. Whey-rehydrated silages had a significantly lower pH, higher dry matter content, a lower level of fiber, lignin, and cellulose, and a higher concentration of carbohydrate. These silages showed only traces of butyric acid and significantly higher concentrations of lactic acid. Thus the whey, as a rehydrating medium, produced silages of desirable pH and exhibited biochemical parameters indicative of good quality and feeding value. Of the three water-rehydrated silages, one was of obvious poor quality with the other two being questionable. No benefit was seen in using an inoculum of L. plantarum.

No description available.

Chopped alfalfa and chopped whole-plant corn were ensiled and the proteolytic changes which occurred during ensiling were investigated. Proteolysis was measured in terms of end-products of protein degradation and by protein isolation followed by electrophoresis. The effects of formic acid and ammonia, applied at the time of ensiling, on proteolytic changes were investigated. / Alfalfa treated with formic acid contained significantly reduced levels of NH$ sb3$-N and NPN compared to control silage; ammonia (NH$ sb3$)-treated alfalfa silage had significantly less NPN (P $<$ 0.05). After 90d of storage, formic acid-treated and NH$ sb3$-treated alfalfa silage contained lower levels of both branched and non-branched amino acids, sulfur containing, and basic amino acids compared to control silage; formic acid-treated and NH$ sb3$-treated corn silage contained lower levels of branched chain amino acids and sulfur containing amino acids after the same time period. Formic acid and ammonia were most effective in the reduction of proteolysis in alfalfa silage and corn silage, respectively. The protein ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase (RuDPCase) was depleted completely after 2d of fermentation in control silage. Conditions in NH$ sb3$-treated alfalfa silage stabilized RuDPCase during the first 24h of storage.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: Limin Kung, Jr., Dept. of Animal & Food Sciences. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

High-moisture ear corn (HMEC) was untreated, treated with propionic acid (PA) or inoculated with a mixture of Lactobacillus plantarum and Streptococcus faecium, and then ensiled in both tower and laboratory silos. Ensiled HMEC was evaluated for fermentation quality, silage microbiology, and aerobic stability. In control and inoculated ensiled HMEC, maximum pH reduction was observed within 7 d; such pH reduction was observed only after 21 d of ensiling with PA-treated HMEC. Irrespective of treatment, ammonia concentration increased with storage time. The lactic acid content increased up to 42 d of ensilage; between 138 d and 202 d of ensilage, there was a substantial reduction in lactic acid with all treatments. Throughout ensilage, there was no difference in water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) content between control and inoculated HMEC. Secondary fermentation was minimized by both inoculation and PA treatment. Regardless of treatment, the population of lactic acid bacteria increased within 7 d of ensilage and reached a maximum at 21 d of ensilage. Populations of yeasts and moulds decreased with fermentation time up to 42 d, then increased as the ensilage progressed. Bacterial inoculation increased aerobic stability of ensiled HMEC. PA was more effective than inoculation in reducing the disappearance of lactic acid and the rise in pH. Irrespective of treatment, the population of yeasts and moulds and other microorganisms increased in aerated HMEC. Both PA treatment and bacterial inoculation reduced aerobic spoilage of ensiled HMEC. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)