A numerical taxonomic study of lactic acid bacteria from tropical silages

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Abstract
Lactic acid bacteria were isolated from various tropical silages made from either forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor cv. Sugardrip): three tropical grasses: hamil grass (Panicum maximum cv. Hamil), pangola grass (Digitaria decumbens) and setaria (Setaria anceps cv. Kazungula) either with or without addition of molasses and from mixtures of pangola or setaria grasses with leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) or gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium). The 311 wild strains isolated and 13 reference strains were examined by 80 biochemical, physiological and morphological tests. A computer‐assisted complete linkage analysis produced 16 clusters and five unclustered strains at 82% S. The largest cluster included 134 wild strains and the reference strain Lactobacillus plantarum. The results showed that Lactobacillus plantarum was the predominant lactic acid bacterium in all of the tropical silages.