Contribution of condensed tannins and mimosine to the methane mitigation caused by feedingLeucaena leucocephala

Abstract

Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala), a leguminous shrub promising to cope with feed scarcity in the tropics, may help in mitigating ruminal methane (CH4) emission in the tropics as well. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of Leucaena and major secondary compounds of this plant in ruminants. At first, effects of Leucaena tannins and mimosine on ruminal CH4 and nutrient degradability were tested in vitro. Incubations were made with Leucaena without or with polyethylene glycol (PEG) to exclude the tannins effects, as well as with Bermuda grass (Tifton) and lucerne hays, both either untreated or supplemented with mimosine at the same concentration that has been provided by the tested Leucaena (6.52 mg/g DM). Furthermore, in an in vivo experiment a control diet (per kg DM 700 g Tifton hay) and Leucaena diets (per kg DM 350 g Tifton hay and 350 g Leucaena), either with or without 20 g PEG/d per head, were evaluated in six Santa Inês sheep following a double Latin square design. In vitro, Leucaena resulted in the lowest (p < 0.05) gas and CH4 production and the highest (p < 0.05) partitioning factor, a measure for microbial efficiency, whereas the amount of truly degraded organic matter (TDOM) was lowest (p < 0.05) with Tifton among the experimental forage plants. Mimosine addition to lucerne and Tifton as well as PEG addition to Leucaena had no effect on ruminal CH4 and TDOM. In vivo Leucaena, compared to the Tifton diet, enhanced (p < 0.05) intake, faecal nitrogen excretion, body nitrogen retention and the excretion of urinary purine derivatives as an indicator for microbial protein synthesis and availability. This was independent of PEG addition. Leucaena also decreased (p < 0.001) CH4 emission per unit of digested organic matter by 14.1% and 10.8%, without and with PEG, respectively. No significant diet differences were observed in total-tract nutrient digestibility. The study demonstrated efficiency of Leucaena to mitigate in vivo methane emission of sheep, but did not reveal which constituent of Leucaena was primarily responsible for that since no clear efficiency of either tannins or mimosine could be demonstrated.

Emisión de metano en ovinos alimentados con Pennisetum purpureum y árboles que contienen taninos condensados

“…La cantidad de TC contenidos en las arbóreas (130 a 220 g/kg de MS) es superior a otras arbóreas y plantas utilizadas comúnmente en la alimentación de rumiantes; por ejemplo Leucaena leucocephala, en sus diferentes variedades, Gliricidia sepium, Piscidia piscipula, Lespedeza cuneata y Lespedeza striata (6,7) .…”

“…Por otra parte, es posible que los ovinos seleccionaran de la mezcla ofrecida las fracciones sin TC consumiendo en mayor proporción el pasto (19) . Resultados similares han sido encontrados con la suplementación de ovinos y cabras con la inclusión de 30 % de diferentes arbóreas que contienen TC (7) . En este estudio, la inclusión del 30 % del follaje de arbóreas en la dieta de ovinos mejoró la calidad de la dieta; resultados similares han sido encontrados en otros estudios (5,20) , observando que la suplementación con follajes arbóreos incrementa el consumo de PC debido al mayor aporte de las arbóreas (~140 g/kg de MS), además de su bajo contenido de FDN y FDA, lo cual aumenta la tasa de pasaje incrementando con ello el consumo de PC (21) , a diferencia de cuando los animales son alimentados con forrajes de baja calidad (PC <7 %) y alto contenido de fibra (~67.9 %) lo cual aumenta el tiempo de permanencia en el rumen por efecto del llenado gástrico, reduciendo el consumo voluntario de nutrientes (5) .…”

“…Sin embargo, en las regiones tropicales existe una gran abundancia de leguminosas que contienen taninos condensados (TC) con capacidad de reducir la población y actividad de los protozoarios (6) la población de Archaeas metanogénicas y las emisiones de CH4 (7) , o mejorando el comportamiento animal (mayor ganancia de peso y producción de leche) como una estrategia en la reducción de la producción de CH4.…”

Dut Yaprağından Elde Edilen Flavonoidler ile Candida Tropicalis’in Buzağılarda Performans ve Besin Sindirilebilirliği Üzerine Etkileri

“…Dietary flavonoids (quercetin and morin) have marked effects on the fatty acid composition of blood plasma, liver, or breast muscle lipids in vitamin E-deficient chicks [4] . Condensed tannins (a polyflavonoid) can mitigate methane emission by feeding Leucaena leucocephala in sheep [5] . It is effective in improving rumen fermentation and reducing the incidence of rumen acidosis through supplementation of natural flavonoids extract from bitter orange and grapefruit [6] .…”

Different Treatments for Breaking Dormancy of Leucaena Seeds (Leucaena leucocephala)

“…The leucaena can be used in animal nutrition, because it is a legume with good range of crude protein (CP) between 20.9-29.5% (Aganga & Tshwenyane, 2003). Thus, further recent work suggests that leucaena mitigates enteric methane emissions in ruminant, implying that the shrub may also reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the whole farm level (Harrison et al, 2015) due to the effects of condensed tannins from Leucaena on rumen fermentation and decrease populations of methanogens and protozoa (Tan et al, 2011, Soltan et al, 2013. However, these legumes are more difficult to spread seeds in comparison to forage grasses.…”