Inhibition of methanogenesis by tea saponin and tea saponin plus disodium fumarate in sheep

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of tea saponin (TS 5 g/kg DM), TS plus disodium fumarate (DF 20 g/kg DM) and coconut oil (7% DM) on methane emissions in sheep using simple box chamber. Eight Huzhou sheep were assigned to four treatments in a 4 × 4 Latin square arrangement. Addition of TS and TSDF decreased (P<0.0001) methane emissions by 8.5 and 9.6%, respectively. Addition of TSDF signifi cantly increased (P<0.01) propionate and decreased (P<0.01) acetate proportion. Addition of TS and TSDF, though not as effectively as coconut oil, can inhibit methane emissions, which is benefi cial for economy and environment.

Effects of addition of tea saponins and soybean oil on methane production, fermentation and microbial population in the rumen of growing lambs

“…Same results have been observed in vitro (Hu et al, 2005) and in vivo (Yuan et al, 2007). The decrease of pH by TS and SO may be due to the increase in rumen VFAs, which represent the rumen fermentation pattern and the efficiency of nutrient digestion.…”

“…The inhibitory effect of TS on methane production was higher than that reported by Yuan et al (2007), who added 5 g TS/d to adult sheep. This may be due to the difference in the activity of rumen microorganism between young and mature sheep.…”

Effects of tea saponins on rumen microbiota, rumen fermentation, methane production and growth performance—a review

“…In our in vivo study (Yuan et al 2007), daily methane production was reduced by 9.6% on addition of TSDF, but if only DF was used, almost 2 mol (more than 300 g) of DF was needed to achieve the same level of methane reduction. In our study, the daily dose of fumarate was 20 g/day per sheep.…”

“…Methane production was measured using simple open-circuit respiratory chambers (Yuan et al 2007). Addition of TS (5 g/day) and TSDF (TS 5 g/day plus DF 20 g/day, TSDF) resulted in a similar diurnal pattern of methane production as the control (Fig.…”

“…3 Diumal pattern of methane production from sheep in a chamber fed diets with different additives: control (unfilled circle, no additive), tea saponins [filled square, 5 gTS/ kg dry matter (DM)], tea saponins plus disodium fumarate (filled triangle, 5 gTS/kg DM plus 20 g disodium fumarate/kg DM) and coconut oil (filled diamond, 7% DM). The vertical bars indicate standard error of mean at selected times (Yuan et al 2007) that although it might be possible to use fumarate to decrease ruminal methane production, the quantities required to make a major impact on daily methane production might be impractical.…”