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Some Chemical Characteristics of Grass and Legume Silage Made with Sodium Metabisulfite^{1, 2,}

Department of Animal Nutrition, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park

ABSTRACT

Forty-eight samples of grass and legume silage made with sodium metabisulfite at the rate of 8–10 lb. per ton of green forage have been analyzed for the common fermentation products found in silage. The data show that the production of acetic and lactic acids by bacterial fermentation was limited and inversely correlated with the total residual sulfite concentration. Butyric acid production was almost eliminated. Protein breakdown was inhibited to a satisfactory degree, despite pH values higher than normal. The evidence suggests that the forages were preserved primarily by the action of the HSO₃^– ion, instead of the H⁺ ion, as is usual in other conventional types of silage.

¹ Authorized for publication on December 1, 1954, as Paper No. 1926 in the Journal Series of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station.

² This research was supported in part by the award of an International Fellowship to G. Alderman by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, Mich.; and by grants from the Monsanto Chemical Co., Everrett, Mass.; the General Chemical Div., Allied Chemical & Dye Corp., New York; and the New Holland Machine Div. of the Sperry Corp., New Holland, Pa.

³ Present address: Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries, National Agricultural Advisory Service, Anstey Hall, Trumpington, Cambridge, England.