Effects of chitosan on nutrient digestibility, methane emissions, and in vitro fermentation in beef cattle1,2

Autor: Marta M. Kohmann, Martin Ruiz-Moreno, Nicolas DiLorenzo, Francine M Ciriaco, Vitor R G Mercadante, G. C. Lamb, Darren D Henry
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Animal Science. 93:3539-3550
ISSN: 1525-3163
0021-8812
Popis: Chitosan was evaluated as a feed additive to mitigate in vivo CH4 emissions in beef cattle. Twenty-four crossbred heifers (BW = 318 ± 35 kg) were used in a randomized block design replicated in 2 periods. The design included a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of treatments, which included diet (high concentrate [HC] or low concentrate [LC]) and 0.0, 0.5, or 1.0% of chitosan inclusion (DM basis). Diets were offered ad libitum and individual intake was recorded. An in vitro experiment to analyze chitosan’s effect on fermentation parameters and gas production kinetics was performed. A diet effect (P 0.10) by chitosan in HC substrate; however, when incubated with the LC substrate, CH4 production increased quadratically (P < 0.01) as chitosan inclusion increased. A digestibility marker × diet interaction occurred (P < 0.05) for DM, OM, CP, NDF, and ADF digestibility. Diet × chitosan interactions (P < 0.05) occurred for DM, OM, NDF, and ADF digestibility when Cr2O3 was used. When TiO2 was used, diet × chitosan interactions (P < 0.05) were observed for NDF and ADF. However, using indigestible NDF as an internal marker, DM and OM digestibility were improved (P < 0.05) by 21 and 19%, respectively, when chitosan was included in LC diets. In conclusion, feeding up to 1% of chitosan (DM basis) to heifers consuming a LC diet increased apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients. Enteric CH4 emissions were not affected by chitosan feeding, regardless of type of diet, and heifers consuming a 36% concentrate diet produced 2.6 times more methane per day than those consuming an 85% concentrate diet.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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