Effects of different additives on fermentation characteristics and protein degradation of green tea grounds silage

Abstract

This study evaluated the fermentation characteristics and protein degradation dynamics of wet green tea grounds (WGTG) silage. The WGTG was ensiled with distilled water (control), or lactic acid bacteria (LAB), enzyme (E), formic acid (FA) and formaldehyde (FD) prior to ensiling. Three bag silos for each treatment were randomly opened at 0, 3, 7, 14, 28 and 60 days after anaerobic storage. For all the treatments, except for FA, there was a rapid decline in pH during the first 7 days of ensiling. LAB treatment had higher lactic acid content, lower ammonia-N (NH 3-N) and free-amino nitrogen (FAA-N) contents than other treatments (p<0.05). E treatment had higher lactic acid, water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) and non-protein nitrogen (NPN) content than the control (p<0.05). FA treatment had higher NH 3-N and FAA-N content than the control (p<0.05). FD treatment had lower NPN and FAA-N content than the control, but it did not significantly inhibit the protein degradation when compared to LAB treatment (p>0.05). Results indicate that LAB treatment had the best effect on the fermentation characteristics and protein degradation of WGTG silage.