Effect of using Uroclhoa brizantha extract as mitigator of methane emissions in sheep in vitro.

• Grant number: 23/09541-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2023
• End date: October 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Ives Cláudio da Silva Bueno
• Grantee: Giovanna Martins Ferreira da Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Methane (CH4) is a relevant greenhouse gas and in farming comes mainly from enteric fermentation. Although in absolute numbers much smaller than that of cattle, year after year, the sheep herds show growth, which becomes worrisome, as it contributes to the increase in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and contributes to climate change. The growth of the world population and the increase in its purchasing power are also concerns, as they increase the demand for animal foods, resulting in a great challenge to be faced: the reduction of dietary energy losses and the consequent mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, several studies have been carried out to seek more efficient diets with less expression in the emissions of greenhouse gases. An alternative with great potential is the use of plant extracts, as they when introduced into ruminant diets, biological activities are expected to cause improvements in the rumen fermentation process and it the mitigation of CH4, modulating the microbiota. The Urochloa brizantha is a tropical grass widely exploited as pasture in Brazil and will be used in this project for the production of extract as a strategy for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. For this, eight cannulated sheep (Dorper x Santa Inês), males castrated will be used as ruminal content donors for the preparation of the inoculum. Five treatments will be tested with doses adjusted according to the results of saponins present in the extract and to check their effect, the characterization of the gas production will be carried out through the gas chromatography method, in addition to the determination and analysis of the profile of short chain fatty acids and ammoniacal nitrogen. Therefore, it is expected that the inclusion of the Urochloa brizantha extract modulates the ruminal microbiota in order to decrease CH4 production.