A process for producing silage from fermentable forage chop is provided. The process consists of first preparing a microbial product by incubating fermentable vegetable matter in a brine and isolating the microbial product from the brine. The forage chop is then inoculated with the microbial product at a rate of from 10.sup.2 -10.sup.7 colony-forming units/g forage chop. The microbial product is characterized, and an improved pickling tank producing the microbial product is described.
A formulation consisting essentially of -1,4-xylanase and -1,3-xylosidase, but essentially free of -1,4-glucanase and -1,4-cellobiohydrolase and on or more lactic acid-producing bacteria is disclosed. The formulation can be used in a silage composition to stabilize silage from cereal and other crops and to enhance its nutritive value and digestibility in a ruminant or other animal.
A method for making a food preservative comprises the steps of removing outer skins of taro corms, cutting the corms into pieces, grinding the pieces of corm to produce ground taro, drying the ground taro, diluting the ground taro with water, cooking the taro and water, inoculating the cooked taro and water with a selected bacteriocin producing bacterium and permitting the taro to ferment, to provide the food preservative.
