Effects of lactic acid bacteria on fermentation quality of alfalfa meal

This study aimed to investigate the effects of lactic acid bacteria on the fermentation quality of alfalfa meal. There were four treatment groups, including a control group treated with sterile water and experimental groups treated with plant-derived Lactobacillus plantarum only, excrement-derived Enterococcus faecium only, or both of them together. Alfalfa meal samples were obtained and analysed at several time points. Each group had three replicate samples at each time point. The results showed that, compared with the control group, each treatment group had a good sensory assessment score, and all treatment groups showed an increase in total acid content (P<0.05) and a decrease in the pH of the alfalfa silage after 60 d. The dry matter content was higher in the group treated only with E. faecium than in the other groups. There were no significant differences in acid detergent fibre content among the three experimental groups (P>0.05), but all the experimental groups had a lower acid detergent fibre content than the control group. After exposing the samples to air for 7 d, we found that the pH were significantly lower in the experimental groups than in the control group, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for total acid content. Yeast and mould were only observed in the control group. In conclusion, fermentation of alfalfa meal with L. plantarum or E. faecium had positive effects on its quality, stability, and chemical composition.