Dietary inclusion of diallyl disulfide, yucca powder, calcium fumarate, an extruded linseed product, or medium-chain fatty acids does not affect methane production in lactating dairy cows

• Published in: Journal of dairy science 2011-06, Vol.94 (6), p.3094-3104
• Main Authors: van Zijderveld, S.M., Dijkstra, J., Perdok, H.B., Newbold, J.R., Gerrits, W.J.J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: additives; Allyl Compounds - administration & dosage; Allyl Compounds - pharmacology; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animal productions; Animals; beef-cattle; Biological and medical sciences; Caprylates - administration & dosage; Caprylates - pharmacology; Cattle - physiology; dairy cow; dairy cows; Decanoic Acids - administration & dosage; Decanoic Acids - pharmacology; diallyl disulfide; diet; Diet - veterinary; Dietary Supplements; digestibility; Digestion - drug effects; Disulfides - administration & dosage; Disulfides - pharmacology; energy balance; Energy Metabolism - drug effects; essential oils; feed additives; Feed and pet food industries; feed intake; Female; Flax; Food industries; Fumarates - administration & dosage; Fumarates - pharmacology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; garlic oil; Holstein; lactation; Lactation - drug effects; linolenic acids; linseed; lipid content; metaanalysis; metabolism; methane; Methane - biosynthesis; methane production; milk; Milk - chemistry; Milk - secretion; milk fat; milk yield; neutral detergent fiber; octanoic acid; production in-vitro; rumen microbial fermentation; ruminal fermentation; schidigera; Terrestrial animal productions; Vertebrates; Yucca
• ISSN: 0022-0302; 1525-3198
• DOI: 10.3168/jds.2010-4042

Two similar experiments were conducted to assess the effect of diallyl disulfide (DADS), yucca powder (YP), calcium fumarate (CAFU), an extruded linseed product (UNSAT), or a mixture of capric and caprylic acid (MCFA) on methane production, energy balance, and dairy cow performance. In experiment 1, a control diet (CON1) and diets supplemented with 56mg of DADS/kg of dry matter (DM), 3g of YP/kg of DM, or 25g of CAFU/kg of DM were evaluated. In experiment 2, an inert saturated fat source in the control diet (CON2) was exchanged isolipidically for an extruded linseed source (100g/kg of DM; UNSAT) or a mixture of C8:0 and C10:0 (MCFA; 20.3g/kg of DM). In experiment 2, a higher inclusion level of DADS (200mg/kg of DM) was also tested. Both experiments were conducted using 40 lactating Holstein-Friesian dairy cows. Cows were adapted to the diet for 12 d and were subsequently kept in respiration chambers for 5 d to evaluate methane production, diet digestibility, energy balance, and animal performance. Feed intake was restricted to avoid confounding effects of possible differences in ad libitum feed intake on methane production. Feed intake was, on average, 17.5 and 16.6kg of DM/d in experiments 1 and 2, respectively. None of the additives reduced methane production in vivo. Methane production in experiment 1 was 450, 453, 446, and 423g/d for CON1 and the diets supplemented with DADS, YP, and CAFU, respectively. In experiment 2, methane production was 371, 394, 388, and 386g/d for CON2 and the diets supplemented with UNSAT, MCFA, and DADS, respectively. No effects of the additives on energy balance or neutral detergent fiber digestibility were observed. The addition of MCFA increased milk fat content (5.38% vs. 4.82% for control) and fat digestibility (78.5% vs. 59.8% for control), but did not affect milk yield or other milk components. The other products did not affect milk yield or composition. Results from these experiments emphasize the need to confirm methane reductions observed in vitro with in vivo data.