Effect of inoculated corn silage on rumen fermentation and lipid metabolism in an artificial rumen (RUSITEC)

Effects of providing substrates containing corn silage (12 g of DM/day) and lucerne hay (3 g DM/day) to an artificial rumen (RUSITEC) in which the whole plant corn was not inoculated (CS, control), or inoculated with Lactobacillus plantarum CCM 4000 (CS + LP), Lactobacillus fermentum LF2 (CS + LF) or Enterococcus faecium CCM 4231 (CS + EF) on rumen metabolism was examined. The inoculants were promising probiotic- and bacteriocin-producing strains. The substrates were fermented in fermentation vessels for 11 days, which included a stabilization period of 5 days. The counts of inoculants decreased during ensiling of corn, and at the end of ensiling (105 days), their counts were less than 1.0 log 10 cfu/g; probably for lower pH (3.44–3.54). Organic matter and neutral detergent fibre degradabilities were increased in inoculated CS compared to control. Ammonia N production was decreased in all inoculated substrates. From other fermentation parameters, only total VFA production, production of acetate, n-butyrate (mmol/day) significantly increased during fermentation of CS + LP and CS + LF substrates compared to control. The inoculated CS substrates influenced the efficiency of microbial protein synthesis ( P