Effects of Cellulase and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum on the Fermentation Parameters, Nutrients and Bacterial Community in Cassia alata Silage

Silage Cassia alata (CA) can not only alleviate the problem of feed shortage in some areas to a certain extent but also achieve the effect of reducing feed costs. The research evaluated the effect of cellulase (CE) and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (LP) on the fermentation parameters, nutrients, and bacterial community of CA silage. Chopped CA was ensiled with three different treatments: no inoculant (CK), CE or LP and the indexes were determined on the 2nd, 6th, 14th, and 30th days of silage fermentation. The fermentation parameters results showed that the pH value of three groups decreased and then increased with the ensilage process, which attained the lowest value at 14 days. The CK and LP groups attained the highest value at 30 days and the CE group attained the highest value at 2 days. Additionally, the pH value and NH3-N content were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in the CE and LP groups compared to the CK group. In terms of nutrients, CP contents were significantly increased (P < 0.05) in the CE and LP groups on 30 days. The NDF and ADF contents of CE group were significantly and negatively associated with fermentation time and the WSC contents of three groups were significantly lower during ensiling. Compared to the CK group, the NDF and ADF contents were significantly reduced (P < 0.05) and WSC content was increased (P < 0.05) in the CE group on day 30. Sequencing analysis of bacterial communities showed that Lactobacillus became the most dominant genus in the ensilage process. Moreover, both CE and LP groups increased the abundance of Lactobacillus and decreased the abundance of Klebsiella, Weissella, and Acetobacter compared to CK group, with LP having a better effect. CE and LP could further improve the silage quality of CA, and LP had a greater impact in reconstructing the bacterial community in the silage environment.