DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-093-1-0154
TRADE-OFF BETWEEN FERMENTATION QUALITY AND AEROBIC STABILITY OF CORN SILAGE
- Louèka, R.1, Homolka, P.1, Janèík, F.1, Koukolová, V.1, Kubelková, P.1
- 1 Institute of Animal Science, Pøátelství 815, 104 00 Prague-Uhøínìves, Czech Republic
Aerobic stability (AS) temperature exerts a highly significant effect on corn silage quality, with practical consequences for feed management under warming climate conditions. A complete 3×2×2 factorial experiment tested three treatments (untreated control, Formasil® Maize Propio containing L. buchneri and propionic acid, homofermentative L. plantarum inoculant) at two fermentation temperatures (20 °C, 30 °C) followed by aerobic exposure at 20 °C and 30 °C. Twenty-three samples were analyzed after 40-day fermentation. AS at 20 °C preserved 12.7% higher NEL (6.85 vs. 6.08 MJ/kg DM; p < 0.001), 62.5% more lactic acid (3.60 vs. 2.21% DM; p < 0.001), and lower pH (4.03 vs. 4.32; p = 0.002). Formasil produced the highest acetic acid content (avg. 1.35% DM; p = 0.024) and achieved best performance at 20 °C AS (NEL 7.02 MJ/kg DM, DM losses 2.96%). L. plantarum showed the highest LA/VFA ratio (4.61; p = 0.006), indicating homofermentative pathway dominance. No butyric acid was detected in any sample. A fundamental trade-off exists between fermentation pathway optimization and temperature-dependent aerobic stability, requiring climate-specific additive selection strategies.
Keywords: lactic acid bacteria, heterofermentative inoculant, biological additives, climate warming, dry matter losses
pages: 154-155, Published: 2026, online: 2026
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