Effect of growth stage and lactic acid bacteria additives on quality of Jerusalem artichoke silage

The effect of growth stage and lactic acid bacteria additives on fermentation quality and nutritional value of Jerusalem artichoke silage were studied. Fresh artichokes at two different growth stages (early bud stage and blooming stage) were ensiled, with (5 × 10⁶ cfu·g^–1 LAB) or without a lactic acid bacteria additive, in poly bags for 60 d. The results were as follows: 1) During the blooming period of the Jerusalem artichoke, the pH and ammonia-nitrogen/total nitrogen value of the silage added by the lactobacillus significantly decreased (P < 0.05), while the contents of lactic acid and acetic acid significantly increased (P < 0.05). In addition, the content of lactic acid was significantly decreased (P < 0.05), while the content of acetic acid and the ammonia-nitrogen/total nitrogen value were significantly increased (P < 0.05) in the lactic acid supplementation group of artichokes in the early bud stage. 2) Compared with silage from artichokes harvested in the early bud stage,pH, acetic acid, crude ash, and in vitro dry matter digestibility of silage from artichokes harvested in the blooming stage decreased significantly (P < 0.05), and the lactic acid and water-soluble carbohydrate contents increased significantly (P < 0.05). It can be concluded that addition of lactic acid bacteria to Jerusalem artichoke during the blooming period led to higher fermentative quality.