Dissolution analysis to study release of Lactobacillus plantarum from silage inoculant prills
The quality of silage can be improved by addition of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) at the time of ensiling Rapid fermentation by fermentative LAB reduces water soluble carbohydrates to lactic acid The consequent rapid decrease in pH improves silage preservation and inhibits the growth of aerobic spoilage microorganisms For successful silage making it is essential that inoculants are delivered in a viable state and are released during silage making LAB can be formulated as prills for extended bacterial survival but the release characteristics from the prill will determine product utility In these experiments release characteristics of the LAB Lactobacillus plantarum contained in three types of prills (immediate release formulation (IRF) or sustained release formulations (SRF1 and SRF2)) were examined using a DIS 8000 Dissolution Apparatus to study in vitro release in two pH conditions At neutral pH IRF released >80 of live bacterial within 30 min while SRF1 and SRF2 released approximately 55 and 25 respectively Under acidic conditions (pH 4) release profiles were similar to those produced under neutral conditions from all formulations This study demonstrates the utility of dissolution analysis in selection of bacterial formulations