Effects of enzyme additives and Lactobacillus plantarum on the bacterial community, fermentation quality and ruminal degradability of Medicago sativa silage

TThis study aimed to evaluate the effects of enzymes (cellulase combined with alpha-galactosidase), Lactobacillus plantarum (LP), and the combination of these enzymes with LP on bacterial diversity using high-throughput sequencing, and the digestibility of different silages evaluated by in vitro fermentation test. After 56 days of ensiling, treatment of the enzyme or L. plantarum alters the microbial composition of the silage in very different manners. Unlike the control silage, Lactobacillus and Pediococcus were predominant in the EN silage, and Lactobacillus was dominant in the LP, ENLP silages. Our study demonstrates that treating silages with enzymes (celluase plus alpha-galactosidase), L. plantarum and their combination improved the fermentation quality and digestibility of alfalfa silage and some of these indexes were positively or negatively associated with Lactobacillus in the bacterial community of M. sativa silage.