## Materials and Methods
### WCR Silage, Hay, and Fresh Freeze-Dried Sample Preparation  
The WCR samples were divided into three parts: the first part was used to characterize the phenolic and flavonoid components in the LAB-inoculated and noninoculated WCR silage with a high moisture level. Then, we further analyzed the phenolic and flavonoid profiles in hay and fresh freeze-dried samples.  
WCR Silage: After harvesting, the whole crop rice sample was wilted at room temperature for 36-48 h to reach moisture below 60-70%, and then samples were chopped to 2-3 cm length using a hand cutter. After cutting, WCR forage was inoculated with silage bacteria (SB; Top Silage Products, Jeollanam-do, Korea) containing _Lactobacillus plantarum_ KCC-10, _Lactobacillus plantarum_ KCC-19, and _Lactobacillus plantarum_ K-49 at a bacterial population of 1 \(\times\) 10\({}^{5}\) CFU/g of forage. Then, 100 g of finely chopped WCR was mixed with LAB inoculants (1 \(\times\) 10\({}^{5}\) CFU/g) in plastic bags, and without-LAB was maintained as control (Phosphate-Buffered Saline alone). The LAB-inoculated and noninoculated WCR silage bags were sealed by vacuum sealer machine (FoodSaver, FM-5460-071, EMK Co. Ltd., Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea) and then stored at room temperature (25-30 \({}^{\circ}\)C). Afterward, the sealed bags were monitored for 6 h to ensure no damage to the silage bags. All experimental samples were carried out in triplicate. After 60 days, the silage bags were opened, and a portion of samples from each group and each stage of maturity was analyzed for their phenolic and flavonoid contents. Another portion of the WCR silage sample was analyzed for pH, microbial population, and organic acid profile, and then samples were dried at 60 \({}^{\circ}\)C for 72 h and powdered using a grinding mill (Kunhewuhua, Seoul, Korea) with a 1-mm pore size sieve for nutrient and chemical analyses [18].  
Fresh WCR: Fresh WCR forage (2 kg) in each stage was cut into small pieces (2-3 cm), put into small gauze bags (10 \(\times\) 15 cm dimensions, Asahikasei, Tokyo, Japan), and soaked in liquid nitrogen (\(-\)170 \({}^{\circ}\)C) for 5-10 min. Then, the samples were dried using a freeze dryer and kept at -80 \({}^{\circ}\)C for 4-5 days. Afterward, the samples were powdered in a grinding mill to pass through a 1-mm sieve, and the powdered material was carefully stored at room temperature for further chemical profile analysis.  
WCR hay: The WCR samples were cleaned well and dried in a shadow condition for 5 days, and then samples were kept in an air-forced drying oven at 65 \({}^{\circ}\)C for 24 h. The dried WCR samples were ground well in a hammer mill (MF-220, CapsulCn International, Shanghai, China) to 1-mm particle size, kept in airtight plastic containers, and stored at 4 \({}^{\circ}\)C until further use. The details of the WCR samples and the different experimental set-ups used in this study are summarized in Table 1.  
Analysis of Organic Acids Profile in WCR Silage Samples  
Here, we extracted and detected three major organic acids (lactic, acetic, and butyric acids) in microbial fermented WCR samples using high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with a UV/RID detector. HPLC separation was performed using an Aminex HPX-87 column (Bio-Rad, Life Science, Hercules, CA, USA) and the mobile phase was 0.005 M H\({}_{2}\)SO\({}_{4}\) isocratic elution at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min. The column temperature was maintained at 35 \({}^{\circ}\)C, and organic acids were detected at a wavelength of 210 nm. Sample injection volume was 10 mL injected through an auto-sampler system. The concentration of lactic, acetic, and butyric acids was calculated by retention time and area of standard and unknown spectra data. The total run time between injections was 25 min [18].