Essential oils from Brazilian plants as in vitro rumen fermentation modifiers

Author(s)

Rafael Canonenco de Araujo

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Piracicaba.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC)
• Defense date: 2011-02-03

Examining board members

Alexandre Vaz Pires; Telma Teresinha Berchielli; Carla Maris Machado Bittar; Ives Cláudio da Silva Bueno; Flavio Augusto Portela Santos

• Advisor: Alexandre Vaz Pires

Abstract

In an attempt to reproduce the benefits of ionophores on rumen fermentation, researchers have been exploiting the antimicrobial properties of plant secondary metabolites. In vitro gas production techniques are widely used during the screening phase. Essential oils are hydrophobic compounds, being usual its dilution in ethanol for in vitro experiments. In the rumen environment, ethanol is metabolized mostly to acetate. In the first experiment, the objective was to evaluate the effects of 10, 100 and 1000 µL of ethanol in 75 mL of buffered rumen fluid, corresponding to 0.13, 1.3, and 13.3 µL/mL, respectively. Ethanol inclusions of 100 and 1000 µL affected in vitro rumen fermentation. The inclusion of 10 µL of ethanol had no effects on fermentation, except for the tendency (P < 0.10) of gas production increase or valerate increase when incubating hay or a high-concentrate diet, respectively. It is suggested that ethanol should be included at the lowest dose as possible, which corresponded to 10 µL (0.13 µL/mL) in our conditions. The second experiment dealt with the use of blanks (flasks without substrate, containing only inoculum and incubation medium) in in vitro experiments to estimate net production of gas and methane (CH4), as well as net degradation of organic matter incubated. It was demonstrated that rumen additives (monensin, carvacrol, eugenol) affected fermentation of flasks containing substrate and blanks. Thus, specific blanks (blanks containing additive) are necessary when rumen additives are evaluated in vitro. In the third experiment, in vitro incubations were conducted to screen the effects of essential oils on rumen fermentation. The selected essential oils were: cordia (Cordia verbenacea), Brazilian peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolius; extracted from leaves or fruits), macela (Achyrocline satureoides), guaco (Mikania glomerata), carqueja (Baccharis cylindrica), arnica (Lychnophora pinaster), West Indian lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), East Indian lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus), and citronella (Cymbopogon winterianum). Oleoresins from copaiba mari-mari (Copaifera reticulata), copaiba angelim (Copaifera multijuga), copaiba zoro (Copaifera langsdorfii), and copaiba vermelha (Copaifera langsdorfii) were also included. The essential oils from cordia, macela and all copaiba oleoresins had little effect on in vitro rumen fermentation. The remaining essential oils showed a clear antimicrobial effect, mainly on truly degraded organic matter. The most promising results were obtained when using high-concentrate diet and inoculum from animals fed this same diet. The best results were observed for Brazilian peppertree (leaves and fruits) and arnica essential oils. In the condition of high-concentrate diet, these oils increased propionate concentration, had lower acetate to propionate ratio, and/or reduced CH4 production. The essential oils from Brazilian peppertree (leaves and fruits) and arnica were selected for further in vivo evaluation. (AU)