Ensiling Fruit Byproducts with Inoculum of Lactic Acid Bacteria Strains

We conducted laboratory-scale ensiling experiments to evaluate the effects of lactic acid bacteria inoculant for making fruit byproduct silage with the aim of long-term storage stability. Four strains of lactic acid bacteria were applied as inoculants for apple pomace, grape pomace, and persimmon skin silage. After four weeks of anaerobic fermentation, Lactobacillus buchneri exhibited a prominent effect in decreasing yeast count in apple pomace silage and persimmon skin silage, whereas Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactococcus lactis also contributed to increased lactic acid production compared to control silage. Aerobic stability tests of silage samples, which were anaerobically ensiled for six weeks, indicated that the addition of L. buchneri or L. plantarum suppressed the temperature increase of the silage. Our results suggest that inclusion of selected lactic acid bacteria species may be a practical means of producing high quality fruit byproduct silage.