A numerical taxonomic study of lactic acid bacteria from tropical silages

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.