Effects of Ensiling Oxytropis glabra with Whole-Plant Corn at Different Proportions on Fermentation Quality, Alkaloid Swainsonine Content, and Lactic Acid Bacteria Populations.

Oxytropis glabra (OG) is a leguminous forage that is potentially valuable for solving the shortage of feed for livestock production, while, in large quantities, it may be toxic because of its swainsonine (SW) content. In this study, OG was ensiled with whole-plant corn (Zea mays L.) at 10:0, 9:1, 8:2, 7:3, 6:4, 5:5, 4:6, and 0:10 ratios on a fresh matter basis, and, after 60 d of ensiling, the chemical composition, fermentation characteristic, SW removal rate, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) populations, and their capabilities for SW removal were analyzed. As the proportion of corn in the silage increased, the pH, as well as the propionic acid, ammonia-N, dry matter, crude protein, and SW contents, decreased linearly, while the lactic acid, neutral detergent fiber, and residual water-soluble carbohydrate contents increased linearly. Lactobacillus plantarum was the most common microorganism present in all mixture silages. Lactobacillus amylovorus and Lactobacillusbrevis were prevalent at lower ratios of corn to OG. Meanwhile, the LAB strains belong to L. amylovorus and L. plantarum had a higher SW removal rate. Our results suggested that ensiling OG with whole-plant corn improves fermentation and decreases SW content, and that 5:5 is the optimal ratio, so this type of mixed silage could make OG useable for ruminant production.

Comparative analysis of ensiling characteristics and protein degradation of alfalfa silage prepared with corn or sweet sorghum in semiarid region of Inner Mongolia.

This study was conducted to evaluate silage fermentation and protein degradation of alfalfa prepared with corn or sweet sorghum (SS) at different mixing ratios. The chemical composition, ensiling characteristics, and protein degradation of alfalfa prepared with and without corn or SS at mixing ratios of 7:3, 1:1, and 3:7 on a fresh matter (FM) basis were studied. The alfalfa had the highest crude protein (CP) content and lactate buffering capacity (LBC), but lower water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) content than corn and SS. After 60 days of ensiling, the corn and SS silages had good quality, with lower pH and ammonia-N content, and higher dry matter (DM) content than the alfalfa silages. In the alfalfa and corn mixture silages, the DM contents linearly increased with an increase in the proportion of corn, while the pH, non-protein N (NPN), ammonia-N, and peptide-N contents linearly decreased. In the alfalfa and SS mixture silages, the DM and NPN contents linearly increased with an increase in the proportion of SS, while the pH, lactic acid, and ammonia-N contents linearly decreased. This study suggests that alfalfa silage prepared with corn has more positive effect on fermentation quality and inhibiting protein degradation than addition of SS.

Contrasting Strategies of Alfalfa Stem Elongation in Response to Fall Dormancy in Early Growth Stage: The Tradeoff between Internode Length and Internode Number.

Fall dormancy (FD) in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) can be described using 11 FD ratings, is widely used as an important indicator of stress resistance, productive performance and spring growth. However, the contrasting growth strategies in internode length and internode number in alfalfa cultivars with different FD rating are poorly understood. Here, a growth chamber study was conducted to investigate the effect of FD on plant height, aboveground biomass, internode length, and internode number in alfalfa individuals in the early growth stages. In order to simulate the alfalfa growth environment in the early stage, 11 alfalfa cultivars with FD ratings from one to 11 were chosen and seeded at the greenhouse, and then were transplanted into an artificial growth chamber. The experimental design was a randomized complete block in a split-plot arrangement with three replicates. Plant height, above-ground biomass, internode length, and internode number were measured in early growth stage in all individuals. Our findings showed that plant height and the aboveground biomass of alfalfa did not significantly differ among 11 different FD rated cultivars. Also, internode length and internode number positively affected plant height and the aboveground biomass of alfalfa individuals and the average internode length significantly increased with increasing FD rating. However, internode number tended to sharply decline when the FD rating increased. Moreover, there were no correlations, slightly negative correlations, and strongly negative correlations between internode length and internode number in alfalfa individuals among the three scales, including within-FD ratings, within-FD categories and inter-FD ratings, respectively. Therefore, our results highlighted that contrasting growth strategies in stem elongation were adopted by alfalfa with different FD ratings in the early growth stage. Alfalfa cultivars with a high FD rating have longer internodes, whereas more dormant alfalfa cultivars have a larger number of internodes. There were tradeoffs between internode length and internode number in response to FD in alfalfa, which reflected certain scale-dependence.

Enhanced Catalytic Activity of Pt Supported on Nitrogen-Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide Electrodes for Fuel Cells.

We report an efficient method for the synthesis of nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide supported Pt nanocatalysts (Pt/N-RGO). Nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-RGO) was prepared by pyrolysis of graphene oxide with cyanamide as a nitrogen source. Then, the Pt nanoparticles were deposited over N-RGO by one-step chemical polyol reduction process. The morphology and structure of as-prepared catalysts were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Subsequently, electrocatalytic activities of the catalysts were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV). As a result, the Pt/N-RGO catalysts exhibit the superior electrochemical activity toward methanol oxidation in compared with that of Pt loaded on undoped reduced graphene oxide (Pt/RGO) and Pt/carbon blacks (Pt/C). This was mainly attributed to the better distribution of Pt nanoparticles as well as the synergistic electrochemical effects of the nitrogen doped supports. These results demonstrate that N-RGO could be a promising candidate as a high performance catalyst support for a fuel cell application.

Evaluation of processing technology for Triarrhena sacchariflora (Maxim.) Nakai for ethanol production.

The effects of dilute H2SO4 concentration, forage:sulfuric acid ratio, digestion time, and digestion temperature were evaluated to determine effects on ethanol yield of Triarrhena sacchariflora (Maxim.) Nakai. Twenty single factor experiments were conducted to evaluate H2SO4 concentration (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5%, w/w), forage:sulfuric acid ratio (1:6, 1:8, 1:10, 1:12, and 1:14, g/ml), digestion time (15, 30, 45, 60, and 90, min), digestion temperature (80, 100, 110, 120, and 125 °C) for 3 replicates of the 5 levels of each factor. Based on results of the single factor experiments, an incomplete factorial was designed to evaluate ethanol yield from the best combinations of single factors. Finally, the best combination was tested by enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation experiment in selected combinations according to pretreatment results. Percentage cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents of forage residue after pretreatment, and glucose and xylose concentrations of the filtrate were analyzed prior to enzymatic hydrolysis, and percentage crystallinity was observed in untreated grass and pretreated residue. In addition, the solid residues were then hydrolysed and fermented by cellulase and yeast, the concentrations of glucose and ethanol being monitored for 96 h. Results showed that the order of the effect of main effect factors was as follows: digestion temperature > dilute H2SO4 concentration > digestion time > forage:sulfuric acid ratio. The best process parameters evaluated were sulfuric acid concentration of 1.5%, forage:sulfuric acid ratio of 1:6, digestion time of 15 min, and digestion temperature of 120°C. With this combination of factors, 80% of the cellulose was hydrolysed in 96 h, and 78% converted to ethanol. The findings identified that hemicelluloses were the key deconstruction barrier for pretreatment of Triarrhena sacchariflora (Maxim.) Nakai for ethanol production. The results of this research provide evidence of appropriate combinations of processing factors for production of ethanol from Triarrhena sacchariflora (Maxim.) Nakai.

Fermentation quality and chemical composition of shrub silage treated with lactic acid bacteria inoculants and cellulase additives.

Effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculants and cellulase additives on fermentation quality and chemical compositions of shrub silages were studied by using a small-scale fermentation system. Two LAB inoculants of Qingbao (Lactobacillus plantarum, Pediococcus acidilacticii, Lactobacillus casei and Clostridium phage) and Caihe (Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis and Pediococcus acidilactici) and a commercial cellulase made from Trichoderma reesei were used as additives for intermediate pea-shrub, rush bushclover, arborescent ceratoides and shrubby silage preparation. The crude protein, neutral detergent fiber and water-soluble carbohydrate contents of the four shrub materials were 10.1-14.2, 62.6-67.2 and 1.9-3.5% on a dry matter basis, respectively. All shrub silages had pH 3.40-4.43, ammonia-N 0.1-0.2% g/kg and lactic acid 1.3-2.9% on a fresh matter basis. The silage quality of LAB-inoculated silages did not have a greater effect than control silages, except shrubby silage preparation. Silages treated with the cellulase, the pH of rush bushclover and shrubby sweetvetch silage were significantly (P < 0.05) lower and the lactic acid content were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the control silages. The results confirmed that shrub contained a relatively high content of crude protein; its silages can be preserved in good quality, and they are new potential resources for livestock feed.

The effects of wilting and storage temperatures on the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of stylo silage.

In order to clarify the ensiling characteristics of stylo (Stylosanthes guianensis Swartz), the effects of wilting (no wilting, light wilting and heavy wilting) and storage temperatures (10°C, 20°C, 30°C and 40°C) on the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of stylo silage were investigated. Wilting had no significant influence on the contents of crude protein, ether extract and acid detergent fiber, and numbers of lactic acid bacteria, aerobic bacteria, yeasts and mold (P > 0.05). Heavy wilted material, wilted for 12 h, had higher neutral detergent fiber content and lower water-soluble carbohydrate content than unwilted and light wilted materials (P < 0.05). Wilting and storage temperatures had significant effects on pH value, acetic acid, butyric acid and NH(3) -N contents of stylo silage (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Wilting tended to reduce acetic acid and NH(3) -N contents and improve the fermentation quality of stylo silage. In all the silages, no wilting silage ensiled at 30°C had the highest butyric acid content (P < 0.05). High temperature of 40°C markedly restricted the growth of lactic acid bacteria and aerobic bacteria in silage, irrespective of wilting. The wilted silage or silage stored at low temperature had poor aerobic stability.

[Diurnal dynamics of photosynthetic characteristics of alfalfa on Kerqin sandy land].

By using a Li-6400 portable photosynthesis system, the diurnal dynamics of the photosynthetic characteristics of three alfalfa varieties Medicago sativa L. cv. Aohan, M. sativa L. cv. Rangelander, and M. sativa L. cv. Algonquin were studied. The results showed that for the test alfalfa varieties, the diurnal variation curves of their P(n), T(r), and WUE were not all presented double-peak. For Aohan and Algonquin, the maximum P(n) and T(r) occurred at 9:00-11:00; while for Rangelander, they appeared at 11:00. The minimum P(n) and T(r) of the three varieties all appeared at 7:00 and 19:00. The maximum WUE of Rangelander and Algonquin appeared at 7:00 and that of Aohan was at 9:00, and the minimum WUE of the three varieties all appeared at 15:00-17:00. Comprehensive analysis on the photosynthetic performance indices P(n), T(r), and WUE indicated that 2 years old alfalfa was in the best state, followed by 1 year old, and 4 years old. Correlation analysis showed that air temperature (T(a)) was the main environmental factor affecting P(n) and T(r), followed by water vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and relative humidity (RH).