title: Silage preparation and fermentation quality of natural grasses treated with lactic acid bacteria and cellulase in meadow steppe and typical steppe.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In order to improve fermentation quality of natural grasses, their silage preparation and fermentation quality in meadow steppe (MS) and typical steppe (TS) were studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  The small-scale silages and round bale silages of mixed natural grasses in both steppes were prepared using the commercial lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculants Chikuso-1 (CH,Lactobacillus plantarum) and cellulase enzyme (AC,Acremonium cellulase) as additives.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MS and TS contained 33 and 9 species of natural grasses, respectively.Stipa baicalensisin MS andStipa grandiin TS were the dominant grasses with the highest dry matter (DM) yield. The crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber and water-soluble carbohydrate of the mixed natural grasses in both steppes were 8.02% to 9.03%, 66.75% to 69.47%, and 2.02% to 2.20% on a DM basis, respectively. All silages treated with LAB and cellulase were well preserved with lower pH, butyric acid and ammonia-N content, and higher lactic acid and CP content than those of control in four kinds of silages. Compared with CH- or AC-treated silages, the CH+ AC-treated silages had higher lactic acid content.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results confirmed that combination with LAB and cellulase may result in beneficial effects by improving the natural grass silage fermentation in both grasslands.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Grassland Resources, Ministry of Education, P.R. of China, College of Grassland, Resources and Environment, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, China.
authors.forename: Meiling
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Grassland Resources, Ministry of Education, P.R. of China, College of Grassland, Resources and Environment, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, China.
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gentu
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture, Inner Mongolia University of Nationalities, Tongliao 028000, China.
authors.forename: Tingyu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Grassland Resources, Ministry of Education, P.R. of China, College of Grassland, Resources and Environment, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, China.
authors.forename: Yushan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, NARO, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0901, Japan.
authors.forename: Yimin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cai
keywords: Meadow Steppe; Natural Grass; Silage Fermentation; Typical Steppe