Effect of Fibrolytic Enzymes, Cellulolytic Fungi and Lactic Acid Bacteria on Fermentation Characteristics, Structural Carbohydrate Composition and In Vitro Digestibility of Rice Straw Silage

This study aimed to investigate the effect of fibrolytic enzymes, cellulolytic fungi and lactic acid bacteria on the fermentation quality, structural carbohydrate composition and in vitro digestibility of rice straw silage. This experiment followed a completely randomised block design; four treatments were designed: (1) distilled water (control, CON); (2) fibrolytic enzymes (2.0 g/kg fresh weight (FW), E); (3) <i>Trichoderma reesei</i> (4400 U/kg FW, F); (4) <i>Enterococcus faecium</i> Y83 (1 × 10⁶ cfu/g FW, Y83). All additives were diluted with distilled water and sprayed onto the rice straw (20 mL/kg FW). The rice straw was placed into a laboratory silo (10 L) after uniformly mixing and stored at ambient temperature (17–22 °C) ensiling for 3, 7, 14, 30 and 60 days. The fermentation quality in treated silages was improved compared to the CON, as indicated by lower pH, propionic acid, acetic acid and ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) contents. Furthermore, Y83 had the lowest (<i>p</i> < 0.05) pH and highest (<i>p</i> < 0.05) lactic acid content after 60 days of ensiling. Y83 significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.05) decreased the neutral detergent fibre content compared with CON, E and F. In addition, E and Y83 had significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.05) higher in vitro dry matter digestibility and in vitro neutral detergent fibre digestibility than CON and F. Overall, Y83 can be used as a promising inoculant for improving the fermentation quality of rice straw silage.