Comparison study of flaxseed, cinnamon and lemon seed essential oils additives on quality and fermentation characteristics of lucerne silage

Abstract

<p>This experiment was performed to investigate the effects of some essential oils on chemical properties and aerobic stability of lucerne silage. Treatments included lucerne silage without additives (control), lucerne silage with 60 mg cinnamon essential oil/kg, lucerne silage with 60 mg flaxseed essential oil/kg, lucerne silage with 60 mg lemon seed essential oil/kg, lucerne silage with 180 mg blend of essential oils (60 mg cinnamon + 60 mg flaxseed + 60 mg lemon seed essential oils/kg).<strong> </strong>Adding essential oils to lucerne silage reduced silage pH (<em>p </em>&lt; 0.001) compared to control. The highest level of total volatile fatty acids (tVFA) was found when lemon seed essential oil and the lowest level when flaxseed essential oil was used. The lucerne silages treated with essential oils had the highest crude protein contents (<em>p </em>&lt; 0.01). Untreated lucerne silage had the highest level of gas production compared to lucerne silage treated with lemon seed and flaxseed essential oils (<em>p </em>&lt; 0.01). The essential oil additives increased the aerobic stability of the silage. It can be concluded that the use of essential oil additive in the preparation of high quality lucerne silage, can improves the quality and nutritive value of silages.</p>