Background
Polyphenolic compounds like tannins can increase nitrogen (N) excreted in feces when consumed by ruminants but less often noted is increased N in fecal acid detergent fiber (ADF-N). Some simple phenolics are thought to facilitate binding interactions between nitrogenous compounds and soil. We hypothesized that contact with common phenolic acids, such as found in crops, could increase ADF-N, in excreted manure.
Methods
We performed two separate experiments to test our hypothesis. In the first experiment, we applied three solutions (i.e., 0.001, 0.01, 0.1 M) of sodium benzoate (B0), sodium 4-hydroxybenzoate (B1), 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (B2), gallic acid (B3), ammonium benzoate (AB), and ammonium chloride (AC) to dried pulverized manure and measured ADF-N. In the second experiment we modified the methodology, by applying more compounds at a single concentration (0.001 M) and including an added nitrogen (NH4Cl) treatment.
Results
We found a statistically significant interaction between treatment and concentration in the first experiment (P < 0.0001), but the main effects were inconsistent and there was no significant difference between the treatment means and the control mean (samples treated with water). Conversely, we observed a significant treatment effect in the second experiment (P < 0.0001), but no significant effect of the added N or interaction. Samples treated with water, B0, or B3 were similar and indistinguishable from untreated manure. The treatment with B1, caffeic acid, (CAF), or B2 increased ADF-N from 13.2 to 17.5% while +(−)catechin (CAT), and p-coumaric acid (p-COUM), increased it by 19.7 and 22.2% respectively. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and ferulic acid (FER) increased ADF-N by 32.6 and 34.1%, respectively.
Conclusions
The results support our hypothesis that N in manure can complex with manure ADF following exposure to benzoic acid and especially cinnamic acid derivatives. This resulted in greater amounts of N bound to relatively recalcitrant fibers in excreted manure. Thus, N mineralization may be impacted by increasing or decreasing the amount of N bound to manure fibers or other recalcitrant soil compounds such as lignin, but it is unclear whether such N would be less available to plants, or for volatilization, or leaching.