Effect of organic acid and bacterial inoculant on chemical composition, fermentation characteristics, gas production and digestibility parameters of tomato pomace and pumpkin waste silage

Abstract

Introduction: A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of using organic acid and (acetic acid) and lactic acid bacteria on chemical composition, fermentation characteristic and gas production parameters of tomato pomace and pumpkin waste silage in a completely randomized design.
Materials &Methods: Representative of samples were packed manually, in triplicate into plastic bags and were stored at ambient temperature and allowed to ensiled for 1, 3, 7, 21,45 and 90 days. The following treatments were applied to the forage samples: 1) tomato pomace and pumpkin waste silage mix (50:50), without any additives (control), 2) control + acetic acid (1% of DM), 3) control + LAB made inoculant (8×109 CFU/ml) and 4) control + organic acid + LAB made inoculants.
Result: Results showed that there were differences among treatments on DM content on day 7 (p<0.05). Although there was no significant difference among treatments on CP content, however, the highest and lowest decreasing trends were related to control and
bacterial treatments, respectively. There were no significant differences among treatments on ADF and NDF contents in all ensiling times. The highest and lowest ash content was related to organic acid treated silage and control treatments. NH3-N increased with time post-ensiling, and there were significant among treatments on days 1, 45 and 90. Inoculated silage had the lowest pH (3.85) compared with other treatments on day 90. The control had the lowest gas production rate compared with other treatments; however, there were no differences among treatments on ME and SCFA. There were significant differences among treatments on digestibility, partition factor and microbial protein on 21 and 45 days' silages.
Conclusion: Generally, obtained results showed that different additives had no considerable effect on the nutritive value of tomato pomace and pumpkin waste silage.