Nitrate in silage

Due to intensive Fertilizer application most silage crops contain appreciable amounts of nitrate. During silage fermentation the nitrate is completely or partially degraded. End‐products are ammonia and nitrous oxide with nitrite and nitric oxide occurring as intermediates. Factors that influence nitrate degradation and the levels of end products and intermediates found in silages are reviewed. The role of plant nitrate reductase and of enterobacteria, Clostridia and lactobacilli in nitrate catabolism and the significance for silage quality are discussed. Attention is paid to silo‐filler's disease, an illness of farm workers that is caused by inhalation of oxides of nitrogen, and to the occurrence of nitrosamines in silages.