A meta-analysis on the effectiveness of homofermentative and heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria for corn silage

BLAJMAN, J.E.; PAEZ, R.B,; VINDEROLA, C.G.; LINGUA, M.S.; SIGNORINI, M.S.

JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2018 vol. 125 p. 1655 - 1669

1364-5072

Aims: This meta-analysis aims to assess the effect of lactic acid bacteria (LAB)inoculation on fermentation parameters, microbiological composition andaerobic stability of corn silage.Methods and Results: Databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect and Scopus) weresearched from 1980 to 2017. The criteria for inclusion were: randomized andcontrolled experiments using corn silage and published in peer-reviewedjournals. The meta-analysis showed that LAB supplementation increased pH,acetate and propionate concentrations, and decreased acid detergent fibre,water-soluble carbohydrates and ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N) compared tocontrols in the pooled raw mean difference random effect model. In addition,inoculation reduced counts of yeasts and moulds, increased LAB counts andmarkedly improved aerobic stability in corn silage. However, results indicatedthat the effect of inoculants may differ depending on the administration ofhomofermentative or heterofermentative LAB.Conclusions: For the development of functional bacterial inoculants, bothtypes of LAB should be used.Significance and Impact of the Study: To our knowledge, this is the firstmeta-analysis to compare the application of homofermentative andheterofermentative LAB for corn silage.