In Vitro Methane Production Potential and In Sacco Degradability of Non-Leguminous and Leguminous Straws and Stovers

Enteric methane arising due to fermentation of feeds in the rumen contributes substantially to the greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, like evaluation of chemical composition and nutritive values of feeds, methane production potential of each feed should be determined. This experiment was conducted to evaluate several feeds for methane production potential and rumen fermentation using in vitro gas production technique so that low methane producing feeds could be utilized to feed ruminants. Protein- and energy-rich concentrates (n=11), cereal and grass forages (n=11), and different straws and shrubs (n=12), which are commonly fed to ruminants in India, were collected from a number of locations. Gas production kinetics, methane production, degradability and rumen fermentation greatly varied (p<0.01) among feeds depending upon the chemical composition. Methane production (mL/g of degraded organic matter) was lower (p<0.01) for concentrate than forages, and straws and shrubs. Among shrubs and straws, methane production was lower (p<0.01) for shrubs than straws. Methane production was correlated (p<0.05) with concentrations of crude protein (CP), ether extract and non-fibrous carbohydrate (NFC) negatively, and with neutral detergent (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) positively. Potential gas production was negatively correlated (p=0.04) with ADF, but positively (p<0.01) with NFC content. Rate of gas production and ammonia concentration were influenced by CP content positively (p<0.05), but by NDF and ADF negatively (p<0.05). Total volatile fatty acid concentration and organic matter degradability were correlated (p<0.05) positively with CP and NFC content, but negatively with NDF and ADF content. The results suggest that incorporation of concentrates and shrubs replacing straws and forages in the diets of ruminants may decrease methane production.

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A new algorithm to characterize biodegradability of biomass during anaerobic digestion: Influence of lignin concentration on methane production potential

Bioresource Technology ◽

10.1016/j.biortech.2011.07.026 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 102 (20) ◽

pp. 9395-9402 ◽

Cited By ~ 227

Author(s):

Jin M. Triolo ◽

Sven G. Sommer ◽

Henrik B. Møller ◽

Martin R. Weisbjerg ◽

Xin Y. Jiang

Keyword(s):

Anaerobic Digestion ◽

Methane Production ◽

Production Potential ◽

Lignin Concentration ◽

Methane Production Potential

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The need to complement in vitro gas production measurements with residue determinations from in sacco degradabilities to improve the prediction of voluntary intake of hays

Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s1357729800015563 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 71-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

M. Blümmel ◽

P. Bullerdieck

Keyword(s):

Volume Ratio ◽

Gas Production ◽

Published Data ◽

Fatty Acid Production ◽

Residue Determination ◽

In Vitro Gas Production ◽

Gas Volume ◽

In Sacco Degradability ◽

In Sacco

AbstractThe need to complement in vitro gas production measurements with residue determination is demonstrated by the recalculation and reassessment of published data on in vitro gas production, in sacco degradabilities and voluntary dry matter intake (DMI). The in sacco degradability — gas volume ratio was determined at 24 and 48 h of incubation, termed partitioning factor (PF) and combined with rate and extent parameters of in sacco degradability and in vitro gas production to predict DMI. In vitro gas production and in sacco degradability characteristics (a + b) and c as described by the equation y = a + b(1−ect) explained 0·373 and 0·668 respectively of the variation in DMI of 19 legume and grass hays. The complementation of gas production parameters by the PF24 increased the R2 value to 0·744 with PF24 accounting for 0·407 of the variation in DMI, the rate of gas production (c) for 0·218 and the extent of gas production (a + b) for 0·119 of the variation in DMI. As a single parameter, PF48 showed the highest correlation (R2 = 0·597) with DMI but the combination of PF4S with rate and extent of in sacco or in vitro gas production measurements did not improve the correlation further, probably due to an intercorrelation between rates of fermentation and PF4S. Hays which were degraded at faster rates had higher PF values indicating proportionally higher microbial yield and lower short-chain fatty acid production per unit substrate degraded. Generally, hays with high in sacco degradabilities but proportionally low gas production i.e. hays with high PF values showed higher DMI.

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