Challenges and opportunities for the production of lactic acid bacteria inoculants aimed for ensiling processes

The use of bacterial inoculants for ensiling based on lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to obtain conserved forages has become an alternative for the improvement of milk and meat productivity in cattle, specifically by optimizing the nutritional and microbial quality of animal feed. LAB inoculant production involves microbial and technological aspects such as biomass obtention, the use of cocultures, the inclusion of probiotics, the production of antimicrobial peptides, operational methods used in bioreactors, and the formulation of the end product to be commercialized to farmers. This review explores the technical aspects of the manufacture of bacterial inoculants, from the main features desired in LAB for ensiling purposes to the alternatives of the bioprocess involved.