Modern procedures in lucerne ensiling

Abstract

Unfavorable weather conditions in the moment which is optimal for the first cut in lucerne make the traditional process of its conserving, as hay, very rarely possible. Because of that the recommended solution is conserving by making silage or haulage. Due to high buffering capacity and low level of fermentable sugars lucerne cannot be ensiled alone. In many experiments several possible solutions were established, among them: wilting, combining with plants which are easily fermentable, stimulating the lactic acid fermentation with the addition of feds rich carbohydrates and biological additives (bacterial and enzyme inoculants), chemical conservation and others. Today the most advanced method is ensiling with the addition of biological additives which is in agreement with the trend of production of healthy or organic food. At the moment the most intensive effort is used in the investigation of the third generation of biological additives, which incorporate not only of homo fermentative but also hetero fermentative lactic acid bacteria. The products of such inoculants increase the aerobic stability of silages and this is why those additives are not only applicable to legume silages but also for maize silage.

Nepovoljni vremenski uslovi u vreme pristizanja prvog i količinski najvažnijeg otkosa lucerke otežavaju ili onemogućavaju konzervisanje lucerke tradicionalnim postupkom sušenja na zemlji. U odnosu na taj problem spremanje silaže ili senaže predstavlja najpovoljnije rešenje. Međutim zbog visokog pufernog kapaciteta i male količine fermentabilnih šećera lucerka se ne može sama silirati. U brojnim dosadašnjim eksperimentima utvrđen niz rešenja kao što su: provenjavanje, kombinovanje sa biljkama koje se lako siliraju, stimulisanje mlečno-kiselinskog vrenja dodavanjem ugljenohidratnih hraniva i bioloških dodataka (bakterijsko-enzimskih inokulanata), hemijsko konzervisanje i dr. Danas je najaktuelniji postupak siliranje uz primenu bioloških dodataka, a u skladu sa svetskim trendom proizvodnje zdravstveno ispravne hrane. Trenutno se u svetu najviše radi na III generaciji bioloških dodataka, koji se sastoje ne samo iz homofermentativnih, već i iz heterofermentativnih bakterija mlečne kiseline. Produkti ovakvih inokulanata doprinose povećanju aerobne stabilnosti silaža pa su navedeni dodaci aktuelni ne samo za silaže leguminoza, već i kukuruza.