## 4 Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Treatments** & **Harvest Period** & **Types of Samples** & **pH** & **LA (\%)** & **AA (\%)** & **BA (\%)** & **LAB (\(\times\)10\% cfu/g)** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Group 3 and Group 4} & Stage 1 & LAB-noninoculated & 4.05 & 3.11 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.33 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.97 \(\pm\) 0.12 & 4.23 \\ \cline{2-6}  & & LAB-inoculated & 3.65 & 4.65 \(\pm\) 0.06 & 0.39 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.55 \(\pm\) 0.45 & 6.25 \\ \cline{2-6}  & Stage 2 & LAB-noninoculated & 4.12 & 2.79 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.51 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 1.12 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 4.12 \\ \cline{2-6}  & & LAB-inoculated & 3.51 & 4.88 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.39 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.06 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 6.73 \\ \cline{2-6}  & Stage 3 & LAB-noninoculated & 4.13 & 2.42 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.31 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.73 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 4.15 \\ \cline{2-6}  & & LAB-inoculated & 3.55 & 5.16 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.33 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.11 \(\pm\) 0.05 & 6.93 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* LA: lactic acid; AA: acetic acid; BA: butyrate acid; LAB: lactic acid bacteria (mixture of KCC-10, KCC-19, and K46); cfu/g: colony-forming unit per gram.  
\end{table} 
Table 4: pH, organic acids, and microbial count analyses of LAB-inoculated and non-inoculated WCR silage samples. [PERSON] et al. [8] reported that the fiber range exhibits the same trend and cannot be relied on to increase with increasing maturity. On the other hand, the crop yield increased with the stage of maturity and a similar nutritional pattern was noted in the plant heading stage. Additionally, WCR fermentability was not good with the increase in maturity. This difference in the stages of maturity changes the composition of botanical fractions significantly and has a direct impact on chemical constituents [7]. Moreover, we found that the organic acid contents and pH differed in LAB-inoculated WCR silage and may also influence the stages of maturity. In general, the milk stage has more water-soluble carbohydrates and less hardened stem than the grain matured stage; therefore, organic acid production was higher in forage varieties than grain varieties that were easily degraded by the LAB in WCR silage. Recently, [PERSON] et al. [25] reported the LAB strains from the Ohio State University-Parker Endowed Chair (OSU-PECh), including _Enterococcus mundtii_, _Lactobacillus plantarum_, and _Pediococcus pentosacus_, were able to synthesize phenolic acid decarboxylase (PAD) to decarboxylation p-coumaric, caffeic, and ferulic acids. _E. mundtii_ OSU-PECh-39B, _P. pentosacus_ OSU-PECh-27B, and _L. plantarum_ OSU-PECh-BB were capable of decarboxylolating all of the p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, and ferulic acid. However, they did not completely decarboxylate ferulic acid, as they did with caffeic acid and p-coumaric acid. Therefore, the LAB strain can synthesize PAD and degrade the phenolic acids and flavonoids in the preserved silages. Similarly, [PERSON] et al. [26] reported a novel LAB strain that promoted the bioconversion of hydroxycinnamic acids (HCAs); mainly, the LAB strains decarboxylated ferulic acid into 4-vinyl guaiacol in sourdough bread and functional beverages attained from microbial fermentation. In addition, [PERSON] et al. [27] studied the decarboxylation pattern for LAB, where the strains were able to break down p-coumaric acid and caffeic acid more completely than the ferulic acid that was only partially degraded in food and beverage products. In contrast, we found that the WCR silage inoculated with the selected KCC-10, KCC-19, and K49 strains were observed to have slight changes in the phenolic acid and flavonoid concentrations of the control and treated WCR silage samples. Furthermore, [PERSON] et al. [28] determined the highest amount of polyphenolics and some terpenids in mature cranberry, whereas it was decreased at the semi-mature stage. Additionally, the amounts of bioactive compounds were altered at the mature stage and the semi-mature stage of ripening, and they were not uniform concentrations. Similarly, [PERSON] et al.