Table 1 The pH, LBC, microbial population, chemical composition, protein decomposition, and macro-mineral content in FMB and WMB before ensiling

pH

6.42b

6.93a

0.01

**

LBC (mEq/kg of DM)

638.59b

671.12a

7.17

*

Microbial population (cfu/g of FM)

Lactic acid bacteria

4.5 × 10⁴

6.1 × 10³

–

–

Aerobic bacteria

6.3 × 10⁵

8.3 × 10⁵

–

–

Coliform bacteria

2.8 × 10⁴

2.3 × 10⁴

–

–

Clostridia

5.0 × 10²

3.5 × 10²

–

–

Yeast

6.3 × 10³

1.2 × 10⁴

–

–

Mould

4.3 × 10²

2.5 × 10²

–

–

Chemical composition

DM (%)

24.59b

48.82a

1.37

**

OM (% of DM)

91.52

90.82

0.18

*

CP (% of DM)

22.21

22.15

0.12

NS

EE (% of DM)

2.82

2.84

0.06

NS

NDF (% of DM)

30.17

32.26

2.53

NS

ADF (% of DM)

24.54

26.75

1.91

NS

ADL (% of DM)

2.26

2.59

0.58

NS

WSC (% of DM)

4.64

4.67

0.05

NS

Protein decomposition (% of DM)

NPN

4.08

3.73

0.08

NS

TP

17.92

17.04

0.72

NS

Macro-mineral content (g/kg of DM)

Calcium

1.67a

1.30b

0.03

**

Phosphorous

0.24

0.24

0.01

NS

Magnesium

0.37a

0.28b

0.02

*

Potassium

2.86

2.85

0.08

NS