This study was carried out to explore the accuracy of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for the prediction of chemical and fermentation parameters of whole crop winter rye silages. A representative population of 216 fresh winter rye silages was used as database for studying the possibilities of NIRS to predict chemical composition and fermentation parameters. Samples of silage were scanned at 1 nm intervals over the wavelength range 680~2,500 nm and the optical data recorded as log 1/Reflectance (log 1/R) and scanned in fresh condition. NIRS calibrations were developed by means of partial least-squares (PLS) regression. NIRS analysis of fresh winter rye silages provided accurate predictions of moisture, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), crude protein (CP) and pH as well as lactic acid content with correlation coefficients of cross-validation (R2cv) of 0.96, 0.86, 0.79, 0.85, 0.82 and 0.78 respectively and standard error of cross-validation (SECV) of 1.89, 2.02, 2.79, 1.14, 1.47 and 0.46 % DM respectively. Results of this experiment showed the possibility of NIRS method to predict the chemical parameters of winter rye silages as routine analysis method in feeding value evaluation and for farmer advice.

The aim of present study was to improve the quality of silage using lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and chlorella as a supplement. Italian ryegrass (IRG) mediated silage was prepared with lactic acid bacteria (L. plantarum) and different concentration of chlorella. We analyzed the nutritional profiles such as crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF) neutral detergent fiber (NDF), total digestible nutrient (TDN) and in-vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), microbial counts and fermentative acids such as lactic acid, acetic acid and butyric acid in the control and experimental silage after three months. It shows increased crude protein content and also maintains the rest of nutritional values as compared with control silage. LAB inoculation with chlorella as supplementation slightly reduced the pH of the silage. In addition, it increased the fermentative acids production as compared with control silage and inhibits the undesired microbial growth especially fungi in the silage. Therefore, we suggest that LAB inoculation and chlorella supplementation to the IRG mediated silage could be improved the nutritional quality of the silage which is an intrinsic feature for the application in the preparation of animal feeds and functional foods.