Plant bioactives for ruminant health and productivity

Abstract

Plants have been used throughout history for their medicinal properties. This use has often focused on human health but plants have also been, and still are, applied in ethnoveterinary practice and animal health management.In recent times, the use of synthetic chemicals has become prevalent. Public awareness of the potential environmental and health risks associated with heavy chemical use has also increased. This has put pressure on regulatory bodies to reduce the use of chemicals in agriculture. The most striking example is the 2006 banning of antibiotics in animal feed by the European Union. Moves such as this have increased the drive to find alternatives to synthetic chemicals and research has again turned to the use of plant bioactives as a means of improving animal health.Current scientific evidence suggests there is significant potential to use plants to enhance animal health in general and that of ruminants (cattle, deer, sheep, etc.) in particular. Active areas of research for plant bioactives (particularly saponin and tannin containing plants) include reproductive efficiency, milk and meat quality improvement, foam production/bloat control and methane production. Nematode control is also a significant area of research and the evidence suggests a much broader range of phytochemicals may be effective. This review presents a summary of the literature and examines international research efforts towards the development of plant bioactives for animal health.

Associative effects between forages on feed intake and digestion in ruminants

“…Some plants, mainly dicotyledonous plants including most of the legumes, produce secondary metabolites, of which some are bioactive on intake and in the rumen environment (Barry and McNabb, 1999;Rochfort et al, 2008). According to their nature and concentration in the diet, they can provide nutritional and environmental advantages or disadvantages.…”

Quantitative analysis of trigonelline in some Annona species by proton NMR spectroscopy

“…Physiologically, these substances have osmotic regulatory properties and can act as a methyl group donor 3 . Among these mesoionic-type substances, trigonelline ( Figure 1) is somewhat unique as it displays hypoglycemic, hypocholesterolemic, antitumoral and anti-septic properties 4,5 .…”

“…In the studies of Moringa oleifera performed by Mantur and Kamal 9 using HPLC, different contents (3.55, 2.60, 2.15, 1.90 and 1.60 mg·g -1 ) were found in the pods, leaves, roots, stems and flowers, respectively. Many analytical techniques were employed for the characterization and identification of trigonelline 3,9 . Machado et al 10 observed by NMR spectroscopy a content of 1.20 mg·g -1 of trigonelline in Coffea Arabica roots.…”

Influence of formic acid and dry matter on protein degradation in the tanniniferous legume sainfoin

“…Effects of tannins in legumes on protein degradation, resulting from tannin-protein binding and 68 precipitation, has been described in many publications (Karnezos et al, 1994;Koivisto and Lane, 2001) 69 and were also reviewed by Mueller-Harvey (2006) and Rochfort et al (2008). Tannin-protein binding may 70 increase the nutritive value of the forage for ruminants by an increase in rumen escape proteins which can 71 subsequently be released at the low abomasal pH (Oh and Hoff, 1987) for absorption in the small intestine 72 (Thomson et al, 1970;Jones and Mangan, 1977).…”