Abstract
Simple SummaryThe continuous intensification of ruminant production drives towards the expansion of feed components and additives that are utilizes for the coverage of animal’s demand for nutrients. Additionally, in recent years, studies are focused on the investigation of how feed additives affect the microbiome of the digestive system in order to obtain improved performance and/or reduce methane emissions by ruminants. The use of additives such as algae, probiotics, fermented feed or essential oils can serve as an alternative to antibiotics or other synthetic compounds that may pose a danger to the environment.In recent years, a boost in the ruminant population has been observed, and consequently, an increase in the animals’ demand for nutrients and methane emissions. Methane emission is generated during the microbial fermentation of feed in the rumen, and a percentage even up to 12% of the energy obtained by this process can be wasted. In addition, the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry is being increasingly restricted. restricted. As a result, there is a continuous search for innovative feed additives that can serve as alternatives to antibiotics, and will also be safe for both people and the environment. In the present review article, additives were selected on basis that, according to studies conducted so far, may positively affect the microbiome of the digestive system by improving indicators and/or reducing methane production. Among them, probiotics, prebiotics or their combination—synbiotics are at the forefront of research. However, additives in the form of algae or plant origin are also gaining ground in popularity, such as essential oils, fermented wheat straw or Gelidium amansii, due to their general recognition as safe (GRAS) for both humans and environment.
Highlights
The ruminant production sector plays an important role in world food chain and is constantly evolving
Methane emission is induced during microbial fermentation of feed in the rumen, and up to 12% of the produced energy, potentially beneficial for host, can be lost, due to the use of organic acids necessary for the production of VFA by bacteria, i.e., formic acid, acetic acid [10,11,12,13]
Showed a statistically significant increase in the amount of methane produced, due to a raise of ciliate-dependent methanogens, while the number of methanogenic archaea was decreased. This proves This proves a strong need for further research aimed at full explanation and selection of species/extracts with the best predispositions to be used as feed additives reducing methane production by ruminants
Summary
The ruminant production sector plays an important role in world food chain and is constantly evolving. There is a great interest in reducing the level of methane emissions in animal production through the use of feed additives that affect the composition of the microbiome of the digestive system of ruminants [14,15,16,17]. Nowadays, the development of new technologies such as metagenomics, metatranscriptomics or metabolomics along with the development of methods based on sequencing has allowed us to obtain previously unavailable data. This improves our ability to interpret and predict functional interactions, as well as antibiotic resistance or the dynamics of the development of the microbiome population with the possibility of using acquired knowledge in agriculture or environmental protection. Data obtained thanks to the application of the aforementioned modern methods create a new “space” for scientists dealing with this subject, which seems to be a natural environment for the further development of research aimed at a better understanding of the components and mechanisms related to the ruminant microbiome at various levels [13,14,20,21,22,23]
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