Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Livestock Nutrient Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #402511
Research Project: Strategies to Manage Feed Nutrients, Reduce Gas Emissions, and Promote Soil Health for Beef and Dairy Cattle Production Systems of the Southern Great Plains

Location: Livestock Nutrient Management Research

Title: Effects of including a novel high-anthocyanin corn cob meal into feedlot diets on in vitro fermentation and methane emissions

Author
item LONG, NATHAN - Texas A&M University
item SMITH, JASON - Texas Agrilife Extension
item PROCTOR, JARRET - Texas A&M University
item XU, WEN - Texas Agrilife Extension
item MOLSBEE, MORGAN - Texas Agrilife Extension
item GOUVÊA, VINICIUS - Texas Agrilife Extension
item PIÑEIRO, JUAN - Texas Agrilife Extension
item Beck, Matthew - Matt

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/8/2023
Publication Date: 4/7/2023
Citation: Long, N.S., Smith, J.K., Proctor, J.A., Xu, W.W., Molsbee, M.K., Gouvêa, V.N., Piñeiro, J.M., Beck, M.R. 2023. Effects of including a novel high-anthocyanin corn cob meal into feedlot diets on in vitro fermentation and methane emissions [abstract]. Plains Nutrition Council. p. 109.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas that is released as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation. Anthocyanins are polyphenolic compounds that may serve as H2 sinks and inhibit growth of methanogens. Two experiments were conducted to determine if dietary inclusion of a novel high anthocyanin (Hi-A) containing corn cob meal [CCM; 4.99 mg anthocyanin × g-1 of dry matter (DM)] influences in vitro CH4 emissions relative to a conventional CCM (CNV; 0.04 mg anthocyanin × g-1 of DM). High-roughage starter (experiment 1) and low-roughage finisher (experiment 2) diets were formulated to contain 20% and 10% total CCM (DM-basis), respectively. Treatments were based on the proportion of Hi-A to CNV CCM and consisted of 0% (0A), 25% (25A), 50% (50A), 75% (75A), and 100% Hi-A (100A) CCM. In experiments 1 and 2, feed samples underwent 48-h in vitro ruminal fermentation using an ANKOM RF system. The concentration of CH4 as a proportion of total gas production (%CH4) was measured using gas chromatography and pH was measured using a pH probe. Total gas production was fit to the Ørskov and McDonald (1979) model to determine gas production. Statistical analyses were conducted using R (version 4.1.0). Significance was defined as P < 0.05 and a tendency as 0.05 = P < 0.15. In experiment 1, there tended to be a cubic relationship between Hi-A CCM inclusion and total CH4 (mL CH4 × g DM-1; P = 0.13) as well as %CH4 (P = 0.09), where 50A tended to result in the greatest reduction in total CH4 (13.3%; P = 0.10) and %CH4 (14.2%; P = 0.10). In experiment 2, there was a cubic relationship between Hi-A CCM inclusion and %CH4 (P = 0.04) and there tended to be a cubic relationship between Hi-A CCM inclusion and total CH4 (P = 0.06) where 100A tended to result in the greatest reduction in %CH4 (10.3%; P = 0.10) and resulted in the greatest reduction in total CH4 (15.6%; P = 0.02). Lastly, there tended to be a quadratic relationship between Hi-CCM inclusion and final pH (P = 0.05), such that 50A resulted in the least (P = 0.02) reduction in pH throughout the 48-h fermentation. Inclusion of Hi-A CCM reduced total in vitro CH4 production relative to 0A in both starter and finisher diets. Further research is needed to determine if Hi-A CCM is effective at mitigating CH4 emissions in vivo and if anthocyanins can be extracted, condensed, and repackaged into a feasible delivery system. This project was previously presented at the 2023 ASAS Southern Section Meeting.