Additives Altered Bacterial Communities and Metabolic Profiles in Silage Hybrid Pennisetum

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different additives on the fermentation quality, nutrient composition, bacterial communities, and metabolic profiles of the silage of hybrid Pennisetum. The experiment was conducted using five treatments, i.e., CK, control group, MA, 1% malic acid of fresh matter (FM) basis, GL, 1% glucose of FM basis, CE, 100 U/g FM cellulase, and BS, 106 cfu/g FM Bacillus subtilis, with six replicates each treatment. After a 120-day fermentation, 30 silage packages were opened for subsequent determination. As a result, all four additives had positive effects on the fermentation quality and nutrient composition of the silage of hybrid Pennisetum. The high-throughput sequencing of V3–V4 regions in 16S rRNA was performed, and results showed that Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla and that Aquabacterium and Bacillus were the dominant genera. MA, GL, CE, and BS treatment resulted in 129, 21, 25, and 40 differential bacteria, respectively. The four additives upregulated Bacillus smithii but downregulated Lactobacillus rossiae. Metabolic profiles were determined by UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS technology and the differential metabolites caused by the four additives were 47, 13, 47, and 18, respectively. These metabolites played antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory functions and involved in pathways, such as the citrate cycle, carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms, and glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism. In conclusion, silage additives promoted fermentation quality and nutrient composition by altering bacterial communities and metabolic profiles. This study provided potential biomarkers for the improvement of silage quality.

Co-digestion of hybrid Pennisetum and peanut shell after adding TiO2 nanoparticles: Focusing on the synergistic effects on methane production

Anaerobic digestion is a widely accepted method to treat wastes such as peanut shell. The energy and nutrients are simultaneously recovered by this method. The objective of this study was to elucidate the effect of TiO 2 nanoparticles in co-digestion of hybrid Pennisetum and peanut shell under mesophilic conditions. The results demonstrated the methane (CH 4 ) production was improved by adding the TiO 2 nanoparticles. The cumulative gas production is best (up to 11,133.3 mL) by adding 0.15% nano-TiO 2 particles. The microbial community analysis showed that Methanobacterium and Methanosarcina were enriched in the presence of TiO 2 nanoparticles indicating that TiO 2 can improve CH 4 production by stimulating the growth of methanogens.

An integrated life cycle and water footprint assessment of nonfood crops based bioenergy production

Biomass gasification, especially distribution to power generation, is considered as a promising way to tackle global energy and environmental challenges. However, previous researches on integrated analysis of the greenhouse gases (GHG) abatement potentials associated with biomass electrification are sparse and few have taken the freshwater utilization into account within a coherent framework, though both energy and water scarcity are lying in the central concerns in China’s environmental policy. This study employs a Life cycle assessment (LCA) model to analyse the actual performance combined with water footprint (WF) assessment methods. The inextricable trade-offs between three representative energy-producing technologies are explored based on three categories of non-food crops (maize, sorghum and hybrid pennisetum) cultivated in marginal arable land. WF results demonstrate that the Hybrid pennisetum system has the largest impact on the water resources whereas the other two technology options exhibit the characteristics of environmental sustainability. The large variances in contribution ratio between the four sub-processes in terms of total impacts are reflected by the LCA results. The Anaerobic Digestion process is found to be the main contributor whereas the Digestate management process is shown to be able to effectively mitigate the negative environmental impacts with an absolute share. Sensitivity analysis is implemented to detect the impacts of loss ratios variation, as silage mass and methane, on final results. The methane loss has the largest influence on the Hybrid pennisetum system, followed by the Maize system. Above all, the Sorghum system demonstrates the best performance amongst the considered assessment categories. Our study builds a pilot reference for further driving large-scale project of bioenergy production and conversion. The synergy of combined WF-LCA method allows us to conduct a comprehensive assessment and to provide insights into environmental and resource management.

Beef Production on Rotationally Grazed F1 Pennisetum Hybrid and Elephant Grass (Pennisetum Purpureum Schum.) Pastures

COMPARATIVE studies of elephant and the F1 hybrids between the ‘maiwa’ Cultivar of millet (Pennisetum americanum) elephant grass (P. purpureum) indicated a superiority in quality of the hybrids. To ascertain this potential superiority animal performance was measured by exciting beef production on F1 Pennisetum hybrid and elephant grass pastures consisting of random mixture of genotype which were grazed from July 28 to December 6. 1972 (132 days) by 18 to 24 months old White Falani (Bunaji) Zebu heifers. Each pasture was divided into Six 0.07- ha paddocks which were grazed in rotation by two heifers for 5 to 7 days with intervening rest periods of 30 to 35 days. Total liveweight gains per hectare, of animals grazing F1 Pennisetum hybrid and elephant grass pastures were 246.71 and 171.77kg respectively. Mean daily liveweight gain per 100 Kg body weight of animals on the F1 Pennisetum hybrid nature was 0.18 kg which was significantly higher than the 0.13 kg of animals grazing elephant grass. Dry matter (DM) utilisation and average daily intake of the F1 hybrids and elephant grass were respectively, 46 and 35% and 2.2 an 2.0% of body weight while 11.71 kg and 15.85 kg of F1 Pennisetum hybrids and elephant grass, respectively, were consumed per kg of liveweight gain. The superior performance of animals grazing F1 hybrid Pennisetum, was attributed to the higher intake and more efficient conversion of the hybrids. Stand mortality of F1 Pennisetum hybrids and elephant grass at the end of the study were 25 and 15%, respectively. Greater animal output can be expected from F1 Pennisetum hybrids selected for improved DM production quality and plant persistence.