Abstract
Plant bioactive compounds (PBC) are widespread in the plant kingdom, including in forage species, but their impact on silage fermentation and ruminant use of PBC-containing silage has been under-researched. The beneficial effects of PBC include plant-protein protection against excessive degradation by tannins or polyphenol oxidase leading to reduced soluble nitrogen (N) and better N use efficiency by animals, reduced emissions of pollutants such as enteric methane (CH4), improved animal health through antimicrobial, anthelmintic or antioxidant activities, and positive effects on animal product quality—especially greater increased polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content. However, there are still gaps in the research that require an interdisciplinary effort to ensure a balanced approach that co-addresses the economic, environmental and health pillars of sustainability. Here we review the potential offered by PBC to improve silage quality, nutrient use efficiency, performances and health of ruminants, and product quality. In addition, we use an example of cross-fertilization between disciplines to show that incorporating PBC-containing legume species in grass silage can provide multiple and additive effects from silage fermentation to product quality.
Highlights
The issue of energy and protein losses is even more crucial, as they begin with enzymatic and microbial processes in the silos, long before actual intake of the silage. These losses come in the form of fermentation gases and juices that contain various amounts of energy and soluble N depending on harvest-plant and fermentative process factors [6]
Silage quality can impact all the dimensions of ruminant nutrition, from nutritive value to palatability and voluntary intake and on to animal health and product quality. This greatly impacts the inputs needed for animal performances as well as the pollutant emissions that need to minimized as far as possible to support a more sustainable model of agriculture and agroecology
The use of Plant bioactive compounds (PBC) emerges as a natural solution, relatively cheap especially if PBC are supplied by ensiled forages, and well accepted by consumers
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Our scope includes opportunities opened up by PBC to improve: (i) silage lactic fermentation and plant protein protection to increase nutrient use efficiency and decrease pollutant losses in the form of greenhouse gases and ammonia (NH3 ), (ii) animal health (e.g., digestive diseases), and (iii) product quality, for example through FA profiles in meat and milk or increased oxidative stability. One objective of the LegumePlus project was to check whether different pillars of sustainability (productivity, environment and product quality) can be co-achieved using two PBC-containing forage legumes, i.e., sainfoin (containing condensed tannins) and red clover (containing polyphenol oxidase; PPO) included in grass-based silage Their potential benefits and associative effects on silage quality, voluntary intake, digestion, animal performances and meat quality were measured in sheep [16]. The paper concludes by identifying gaps in the research needed to integrate PBC-enhanced silage into farming practices
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