The Effect of Microbial Inoculants Applied at Ensiling on Sorghum Silage Characteristics and Aerobic

<正> Whole crop forage sorghum (Saccharatum) cultivar FS5 was harvested at the soft dough stage of maturity. The sorghum was chopped to approximately 2 cm pieces and ensiled under laboratory conditions in 1.5 L Weck glass jars. At ensiling, it was treated with two commercial microbial inoculants: inoculant A and inoculant B. The inoculants were applied at 2 × 105 colony forming units g-1 DM. Silage with no additives served as a control. Three jars per treatment were opened on days 2, 4, 8, 15 and 60 post-ensiling to study fermentation dynamics. After 60 days of ensiling, the silages were analyzed and subjected to an aerobic stability test lasting 5 days. Results showed that both inoculants caused a more rapid rate of pH decline and a higher amount of lactic acid production. Silages treated with each inoculant produced a little more CO2 and resulted in more glucose loss as compared with the control. Addition of inoculants did not influence (P > 0.05) the ash and crude protein contents, but tended to decrease