Ensiling Characteristics of Sudangrass Silage Treated with Green Tea Leaf Waste or Green Tea Polyphenols

Green tea waste (GTW), emitted from beverage companies manufacturing tea drinks, contains high crude protein (CP) and polyphenols. Kondo et al. (2004) showed that GTW addition to forage ensiling enhanced lactic acid fermentation and decreased pH value. Ishihara et al. (2001) showed that high counts of Lactobacillus species were maintained and the counts of clostridia were decreased in the intestinal microflora of animals fed the diet containing green tea polyphenols (GTP). It is hypothesised that GTP might activate lactic acid bacteria and enhance silage fermentation. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of GTW and GTP as silage additives and explored the mechanisms of enhanced lactic acid fermentation by GTW