Immediate effect of Acacia mearnsii tannins on methane emissions and milk fatty acid profiles of dairy cows

Rapid responses in bovine milk fatty acid composition and phenol content to various tanniferous forages

“…Nevertheless, these 6 tanniferous diets produced significant effects on the proportions of many (often minor) FA in the milk after just 3 days. These findings support those of Denninger et al (2020) who showed an increase in minor FA after supplementation with Acacia tannins after 17 h and clear effects within 3 days. This, and the variations found in the odd-chain FA (15:0, 17:0) proportions, confirm that rumen microbes involved in lipid metabolism seem to adapt rapidly and specifically to tanniferous forages and extracts (Denninger et al, 2020); however, this is not primarily demonstrated in RBH.…”

“…Ruminant milk composition has been positively influenced by the addition of specific dietary supplements in vivo -including grapeseed extract, oilseeds, vegetable oils and rumen-protected fats -by favourably altering phenol contents and FA composition (Singh et al, 2018;Castro et al, 2019;Leparmarai et al, 2019). Denninger et al (2020) recently demonstrated significant changes in the milk FA composition within 1 to 3 days of cows re-ceiving a tanniferous Acacia mearnsii bark extract. As dietary supplements are often expensive, in limited supply and may decrease palatability, naturally occurring feed components are of particular interest in ruminant nutrition.…”

Polyphenols in Farm Animals: Source of Reproductive Gain or Waste?

“…Interestingly, these feed alternatives have been found to contain substantial amounts of polyphenols. In these plants, tannins can be found in almost 80% of woody perennial dicotyledonous species and 15% of annual and herbaceous perennial dicotyledons such as trees, shrubs, legumes, herbs, and cereal grains [ 6 , 7 ]. Many of them are used as animal feeds such as Acacia [ 31 ], Dichrostachys, Dorycnium, Hedysarum, Leucaena, Lotus [ 28 ], Onobrychis, Populus, Rumex and Salix [ 30 ], and Quercus robur with prevalence condensed tannins accounting for up to 20% of the dry matter [ 46 ].…”

“…In extensive livestock production, characterized by low incomes and the limitation of feed resources, it is necessary to look for alternative and available foodstuffs such as shrubs, trees, and agro-industrial byproducts. These products have been found to naturally contain substantial amounts of polyphenols and are more and more used for animal nutrition, having in mind the positive effects of polyphenols on animal growth, performance and health, on adequacy of nutrients utilization, on mitigation of methane emission, and improvement of the quality of animal products [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Metanogénesis microbiana en animales poligástricos

“…Por ejemplo, se ha encontrado que los extractos de A. mearnssi llegan a afectar en el plazo de tres días la composición lipídica de la leche en vacas (Denninger et al, 2020). Un estudio realizado por Grainger et al (2009) mostró que los taninos de A. mearnssi usados en un 0,9% de la materia seca ingerida disminuyeron el metano producido en 14%, pero los niveles de producción de leche bajaron un 3,6% en promedio.…”