Abstract
Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation. Samples taken during wilting and after various ensiling periods were analysed for lactic acid bacteria (LAB) numbers and indices of silage fermentation. In Experiment 1, in which maceration was tested in unwilted and wilted lucerne, there was an additive effect of maceration and wilting on LAB numbers at ensiling, thus LAB numbers were approximately 108 colony‐forming units (cfu) g −1 fresh crop for wilted, macerated forage compared with 103 cfu g −1 fresh crop for unwilted, unmacerated forage at ensiling. Initially, maceration reduced pH ( P < 0·001) and increased lactic acid (unwilted comparison only; P < 0·001) and insoluble N (wilted comparison only; P < 0·001) concentrations. After 70 d ensiling, beneficial effects of maceration were associated only with the wilted silage. In Experiment 2, macerated lucerne was compared with unmacerated material, which was either ensiled after a wilting period of similar length or after wilting had proceeded to the same DM concentration as in the macerated forage. During wilting, LAB numbers were significantly higher in macerated than unmacerated forage ( P < 0·05). This was also the case during the first 16 h of ensiling ( P < 0·01). A decline in pH was observed earlier in macerated silage. Two days after ensiling, lactic acid concentration was higher in macerated silage ( P < 0·05), but insoluble N concentration was not different. In a third experiment, unconditioned forage was compared with forages ensiled after regular conditioning or maceration. Although drying rate over 30 h was not influenced by degree of conditioning, LAB numbers during wilting increased with the degree of conditioning. In silages made from these treatments after 6 h wilting, there were no major effects on fermentation characteristics. In a fourth experiment, digestibility and voluntary intake of precision‐chopped silage were measured in sheep and found not to be increased by maceration. It was concluded that maceration per se resulted in marginal improvements in fermentation; however, when maceration also increased DM concentration, fermentation was markedly improved. In these precision‐chopped silages, maceration had no effect on intake or digestibility.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 16
Claim · model-written summary
Maceration combined with wilting gave an additive increase in lactic acid bacteria numbers at ensiling.
- Taxon
- lucerne
Medicago sativae0 - Treatment
- maceration and wiltinge1
- Outcome
- LAB numberse1
- Direction
- higherinferrede1
- Qualifier
- at ensilinge1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“there was an additive effect of maceration and wilting on LAB numbers at ensiling”
Claim · model-written summary
Maceration reduced silage pH initially.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“Initially, maceration reduced pH”
Claim · model-written summary
Maceration increased lactic acid concentration initially in the unwilted comparison.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- maceratione1
- Outcome
- lactic acide2
- Direction
- increasede2
- Qualifier
- unwilted comparison onlye2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“Initially, maceration reduced pH”
e2“increased lactic acid (unwilted comparison only”
Claim · model-written summary
Maceration increased insoluble N concentration in the wilted comparison.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- maceratione1
- Outcome
- insoluble Ne2
- Direction
- increaseinferrede2
- Qualifier
- wilted comparison onlye2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“Initially, maceration reduced pH”
e2“and insoluble N (wilted comparison only”
Claim · model-written summary
Beneficial effects of maceration on silage fermentation were associated only with wilted silage after 70 days of ensiling.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Material
- wilted silagee1
- Treatment
- maceratione1
- Outcome
- beneficial effectse1
- Qualifier
- After 70 d ensilinge1
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“After 70 d ensiling, beneficial effects of maceration were associated only with the wilted silage”
Claim · model-written summary
During wilting, LAB numbers were significantly higher in macerated than in unmacerated lucerne forage.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- macerated foragee1
- Outcome
- LAB numberse1
- Direction
- highere1
- Qualifier
- During wiltinge1
- Comparator
- unmacerated foragee1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“During wilting, LAB numbers were significantly higher in macerated than unmacerated forage”
Claim · model-written summary
LAB numbers were also higher in macerated than unmacerated lucerne forage during the first 16 h of ensiling.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- macerated foragee1
- Outcome
- LAB numberse1
- Direction
- highere1
- Qualifier
- during the first 16 h of ensilinge2
- Comparator
- unmacerated foragee1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“During wilting, LAB numbers were significantly higher in macerated than unmacerated forage”
e2“This was also the case during the first 16 h of ensiling”
Claim · model-written summary
A decline in pH was observed earlier in macerated lucerne silage.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- macerated silagee1
- Outcome
- pHe1
- Direction
- declinee1
- Qualifier
- earliere1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“A decline in pH was observed earlier in macerated silage”
Claim · model-written summary
Two days after ensiling, lactic acid concentration was higher in macerated lucerne silage.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- macerated silagee1
- Outcome
- lactic acid concentratione1
- Direction
- highere1
- Qualifier
- Two days after ensilinge1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“Two days after ensiling, lactic acid concentration was higher in macerated silage”
Claim · model-written summary
Two days after ensiling, insoluble N concentration did not differ between macerated and unmacerated lucerne silage.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- macerated silagee1
- Outcome
- insoluble N concentratione2
- Direction
- not differente2
- Qualifier
- Two days after ensilinge1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“Two days after ensiling, lactic acid concentration was higher in macerated silage”
e2“but insoluble N concentration was not different”
Claim · model-written summary
Drying rate over 30 h of lucerne was not influenced by the degree of conditioning.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- degree of conditioninge1
- Outcome
- drying rate over 30 he1
- Direction
- not influencede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“Although drying rate over 30 h was not influenced by degree of conditioning”
Claim · model-written summary
LAB numbers during wilting increased with the degree of conditioning.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- degree of conditioninge1
- Outcome
- LAB numbers during wiltinge1
- Direction
- increasede1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“LAB numbers during wilting increased with the degree of conditioning”
Claim · model-written summary
Silages made after 6 h of wilting showed no major effects on fermentation characteristics.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- after 6 h wiltinge1
- Outcome
- fermentation characteristicse1
- Direction
- no major effectse1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“In silages made from these treatments after 6 h wilting, there were no major effects on fermentation characteristics”
Claim · model-written summary
Maceration did not increase digestibility or voluntary intake of precision-chopped lucerne silage.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- maceratione2
- Outcome
- digestibility and voluntary intakee1
- Direction
- not to be increasede2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“digestibility and voluntary intake”
e2“found not to be increased by maceration”
Claim · model-written summary
Maceration per se resulted in marginal improvements in fermentation.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- maceration per see1
- Outcome
- fermentatione1
- Direction
- marginal improvementse1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“maceration per se resulted in marginal improvements in fermentation”
Claim · model-written summary
When maceration also increased DM concentration, fermentation was markedly improved.
- Taxon
- lucerneMedicago sativae0
- Treatment
- maceratione1
- Outcome
- fermentatione1
- Direction
- markedly improvede1
- Qualifier
- when maceration also increased DM concentratione1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Laboratory experiments with lucerne ( Medicago sativa ) have shown that maceration at cutting improves silage fermentation”
e1“when maceration also increased DM concentration, fermentation was markedly improved”
The same questions in other papers
processing · soil: chemistry · Medicago sativa (alfalfa)Positive and negative results
12 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- negative
- positive
- positive
10 papers more in this group
See all 14 papers →processing · nutrient: content · Medicago sativa (alfalfa)Positive and negative results
3 papers in the same direction as this paper · 10 in the opposite direction
- negative
- positive
- positive
10 papers more in this group
See all 14 papers →processing · quality: grain · Medicago sativa (alfalfa)Positive and negative results
10 papers in the same direction as this paper · 9 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- positive
16 papers more in this group
See all 20 papers →processing · molecular: metabolites · Medicago sativa (alfalfa)Positive and negative results
20 papers in the same direction as this paper · 3 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- negative
- negative
20 papers more in this group
See all 24 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.