Effect of refined coconut oil or copra meal on methane output and on intake and performance of beef heifers1

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to establish the effect of feeding either refined coconut oil (CO) or copra meal containing CO to beef heifers on DMI, animal performance, enteric CH4 emissions, diet digestibility, and the fatty acid profile of the resulting meat. Forty-one Charolais and Limousin crossbred beef heifers (474 +/- 29 kg; 661 +/- 89 d of age) were blocked by BW before being assigned in a randomized complete block design to 1 of 3 experimental treatments (n = 12) or to a pretrial slaughter group (n = 5) used to determine the initial carcass weight. The experimental period lasted for 93 d. Enteric CH4 output was recorded for 2 periods of 5 consecutive days from d 14 to 18 and from d 70 to 74. The 3 dietary treatments were 1) control, a barley/soybean meal-based concentrate with 0 g of CO/ d; 2) RCO, a barley/soybean meal-based concentrate with 250 g of CO/d from refined coconut oil; and 3) CM, a copra meal-based concentrate with 250 g of CO/d from copra meal. Each diet had a 50:50 forage:concentrate using grass silage as the forage source. There was no effect of diet on DMI (P = 0.734) or GE intake (P = 0.486). The addition of RCO increased ADG (P < 0.05) compared with the control treatment. The CM treatment decreased (P < 0.05) average daily carcass gain compared with the RCO treatment only. There was a decrease (P < 0.05) in the digestibility of the DM, OM, CP, and GE fractions of the diet only with the CM treatment. Both the RCO and CM concentrates decreased (P < 0.001) daily enteric CH4 output when expressed in terms of liters per day, liters per kilogram of DMI, percentage of GE intake, liters per kilogram of ADG, and liters per kilogram of average daily carcass gain. The RCO treatment produced the greatest numerical response for all measures. Ruminal protozoa numbers on the RCO treatment were lower (P < 0.05) than on the control treatment. The concentrations of the fatty acid methyl esters, lauric (P < 0.001) and myristic (P < 0.002) acids, were increased in muscle when either of the CCO treatments was compared with the controls, but the differences were of a magnitude unlikely to influence human health status. Although the CM concentrate decreased CH4 comparable with the RCO concentrate, decreased performance resulted in an extended finishing time with implications for lifetime CH4 emissions.

Influence of rumen protozoa on methane emission in ruminants: a meta-analysis approach

“…This could explain the variability of the effects of these additives on protozoa concentration. As an example, lipid effect on protozoa is dependent on the fatty acid profile, with a higher effect of medium chain fatty acids than polyunsaturated ones, which was confirmed by our data: lauric acid tended to reduce protozoa more markedly than polyunsaturated fatty acids (Jordan et al, 2006). Defaunation studies did not necessarily observe a reduction of CH 4 emission.…”

Kinetic and in vitro ruminal fermentation characteristics of copra meal diets with different fat levels

“…However, the high coefficient of variation (30.03 to 65.38) may have influenced the results. Many studies show the reduction of methane when using fat in the diet (CASTAGNINO et al, 2014;JOHNSON;JOHNSON, 1995;JORDAN et al, 2006;JORDAN et al, 2007;MACHMÜLLER;KREUZER, 1999;O'BRIEN et al, 2014;SOLIVA et al, 2011).…”

“…If the industrial oil extraction process is not efficient, high quantities of coconut oil can stay in copra meal and influence the ruminal fermentation of this ingredient. A reduction in methane production can be obtained when refined coconut oil is used in diets (JORDAN et al, 2006;JORDAN et al, 2007;MACHMÜLLER;KREUZER, 1999).…”

Overview on Adaptation, Mitigation and Amelioration Strategies to Improve Livestock Production Under the Changing Climatic Scenario

“…to ruminant diets has been shown to reduce methane production between 18 % and 62 % in Rusitec fermenters (Dohme et al 2000 ), sheep (Ding et al 2012 ), beef cattle (O'Mara 2004 ;McGinn et al 2004 ;Beauchemin and McGinn 2006 ) and dairy cows (Hristov et al 2009 ;Sejian et al 2011b ;Brask et al 2013 ). Copra meal gives comparable decreases in CH 4 to refi ned coconut oil (Jordan et al 2006 ). Comparison of the effects of different fatty acids revealed that lauric, myristic and linoleic acids were the most potent reducers of methanogenesis (Jordan et al 2006 ;Ding et al 2012 ), and the ability of lauric acid to decrease cell viability of Methanobrevibacter ruminantium has been recently reported by Zhou et al ( 2013 ).…”

“…Copra meal gives comparable decreases in CH 4 to refi ned coconut oil (Jordan et al 2006 ). Comparison of the effects of different fatty acids revealed that lauric, myristic and linoleic acids were the most potent reducers of methanogenesis (Jordan et al 2006 ;Ding et al 2012 ), and the ability of lauric acid to decrease cell viability of Methanobrevibacter ruminantium has been recently reported by Zhou et al ( 2013 ). A wide range of essential oils (derived from garlic, thyme, oregano, cinnamon, rhubarb, frangula, etc.)…”