Cellulase improves fermentation of a high-fiber shrub silage in 60-day trial

High-fiber shrubs could broaden forage supplies in water-limited regions, but preserving them through ensiling has long been difficult. A new experiment published in Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture reports that adding cellulase to Krascheninnikovia arborescens silage measurably improved fermentation characteristics while reducing neutral detergent fiber, offering a possible route to make this shrub a more usable feed resource.

The study team, led by Jiaxin Tang and Lin Sun with colleagues including Fuyu Yang and Zhijun Wang, tested a simple treatment design. Fresh forage was assigned either to a cellulase treatment at 0.5 g per 100 g of fresh material, with a cellulase activity of 50,000 U/g, or to a sterile-water control. Each treatment comprised four 200-g replicates packed in 40 × 28 cm vacuum bags and stored for 60 days.

The enzyme changed the fermentation profile in several statistically significant ways. Neutral detergent fiber fell from 482 to 468 g/kg dry matter, water-soluble carbohydrates declined from 48.8 to 41.7 g/kg DM, pH dropped from 4.93 to 4.60, and ammonia nitrogen decreased from 28.2 to 22.4 g/kg total nitrogen, all at P < 0.05.

Organic acids moved in the opposite direction. Lactic acid rose from 35.0 to 43.4 g/kg DM and acetic acid increased from 22.0 to 35.6 g/kg DM, while dry matter and crude protein remained unchanged. The authors summarize the pattern as cellulase reducing NDF, pH and NH3-N/total N while increasing organic acid accumulation.

Bacterial sequencing data added a community-level explanation.

Inferences drawn from 16S rRNA gene data suggested greater representation of functions associated with sugar transport, glycolysis, pyruvate conversion, and organic acid formation in the treated silage. The authors note these are predicted functional profiles rather than direct measurements of metabolic activity.

Physical evidence supported the biochemical results. Electron microscopy revealed looser tissue organization, surface fissures, peeling, and fragmentation in the treated material, consistent with enzymatic disruption of cell walls.

Overall, the authors conclude that cellulase facilitated cell-wall disruption and selected a bacterial assemblage associated with stronger acidification, thereby improving fermentation characteristics and reducing NDF concentration in K. arborescens silage. The highlights also note that sugar uptake and acid-producing metabolic pathways showed greater predicted potential under the enzyme treatment.

Within that scope, the work links cell-wall degradation to fermentation outcomes and bacterial succession in a shrub forage that is otherwise difficult to preserve.

Subject of Research: Effects of cellulase addition on fermentation, fiber degradation and bacterial community succession in Krascheninnikovia arborescens silage.

Article Title: Enhancing ensilability of Krascheninnikovia arborescens by cellulase: linkages of cell-wall degradation to fermentation characteristics and bacterial community succession

Article References: Tang, J., Shi, X., He, L., Jia, X., Bao, J., Na, N., Liu, Y., Yang, F., Wang, Z., & Sun, L. (2026). Enhancing ensilability of Krascheninnikovia arborescens by cellulase: linkages of cell-wall degradation to fermentation characteristics and bacterial community succession. Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40538-026-01098-5

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s40538-026-01098-5

Keywords: silage, cellulase, Krascheninnikovia arborescens, fermentation, neutral detergent fiber, lactic acid, Lactiplantibacillus, Bacillota, forage, water-limited regions, bacterial community, 16S rRNA