Archimède H1,
Rira M2,
Barde DJ1,
Labirin F3,
Marie-Magdeleine C1,
Calif B1,
Periacarpin F3,
Fleury J3,
Rochette Y,
Morgavi DP2,
Doreau M2.
- 1INRA, UR143, Unité de Recherches Zootechnique, Guadeloupe, French West Indies.
- 2INRA, UMR 1213, Unité de Recherches sur les Herbivores, Saint-Genès Champanelle, France.
- 3INRA UE1284, Plateforme Tropicale d'Expérimentation sur l'Animal, Guadeloupe, French West Indies.
Abstract
An
in vivo trial was conducted in sheep to investigate the effect of three
tropical tannin-rich plants (TRP) on methane emission, intake and
digestibility. The TRP used were leaves of Glyricidia sepium, Leucaena
leucocephala and Manihot esculenta that contained, respectively, 39, 75
and 92 g condensed tannins/kg DM. Methane was determined with the
sulphur hexafluoride tracer technique. Eight rumen-cannulated sheep of
two breeds (four Texel, four Blackbelly) were used in two 4 × 4 Latin
square designs. Four experimental diets were tested. They consisted in a
tropical natural grassland hay
based on Dichanthium spp. fed alone (C) or in association with G.
sepium (G), L. leucocephala (L) or M. esculenta (M) given as pellets at
44% of the daily ration. Daily organic
matter intake was higher in TRP diets (686, 984, 1054 and 1186 g/day
for C, G, L and M respectively; p < 0.05) while apparent organic
matter total tract digestibility was not affected (69.9%, 62.8%, 65.3%
and 64.7% for C, G, L and M respectively; p > 0.05). Methane emission
was 47.1, 44.9, 33.3 and 33.5 g/kg digestible organic
matter intake for C, G, L and M, respectively, and was significantly
lower (p < 0.05) for L and M than for G and C. Our results confirm
the potential of some TRP to reduce methane production. The strong
decrease in methane and the increase in intake with TRPs may be due to
their presentation as pellets.
Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.
KEYWORDS:
methane; rumen; ruminant; tannin; tropical plant
