Evaluation of the Effects of Mitigation on Methane and Ammonia Production by Using Origanum vulgare L. and Rosmarinus officinalis L. Essential Oils on in Vitro Rumen Fermentation Systems

Gabriella Cobellis, Alessandro Petrozzi, Claudio Forte, Gabriele Acuti, Mara Orrù, Maria Carla Marcotullio, Andrea Aquino, Andrea Nicolini, Valentina Mazza and Massimo Trabalza-Marinucci
Additional contact information
Gabriella Cobellis: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, via S. Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Alessandro Petrozzi: CIRIAF, Interuniversity Research Centre on Pollution and Environment "Mauro Felli", via G. Duranti 67, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Claudio Forte: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, via S. Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Gabriele Acuti: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, via S. Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Mara Orrù: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, via S. Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Maria Carla Marcotullio: Department of Pharmacy, University of Perugia, via A. Fabretti 48, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Andrea Aquino: CIRIAF, Interuniversity Research Centre on Pollution and Environment "Mauro Felli", via G. Duranti 67, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Andrea Nicolini: CIRIAF, Interuniversity Research Centre on Pollution and Environment "Mauro Felli", via G. Duranti 67, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Valentina Mazza: CIRIAF, Interuniversity Research Centre on Pollution and Environment "Mauro Felli", via G. Duranti 67, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Massimo Trabalza-Marinucci: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, via S. Costanzo 4, 06126 Perugia, Italy

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: The effects of increasing concentrations of oregano ( Origanum vulgare L.) and rosemary ( Rosmarinus officinalis L.) essentials oil (EO) on ruminal gas emissions were tested in vitro using 50 mL serum bottles. Each bottle contained a 200 mg substrate (alfalfa hay and corn meal 1:1) and a 20 mL solution composed of a buffered medium and rumen fluid (1:2). The percentage of ruminal fermentation products was quantified by an infrared analyzer. The reduction of total gas production was 6% and 9% respectively when using the 1.5 and 2.0 g/L oregano EO measurements. The reduction of methane production was 55%, 72% and 71% respectively with regard to the 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 g/L oregano EO doses, while rosemary EO (2.0 g/L) reduced the methane production by 9%. The production of ammonia was significantly reduced (59%–78%) by all treatments with the exception of rosemary EO at the lowest dose. Dry matter and neutral detergent fiber degradability was reduced by most of the treatments (respectively 4%–9% and 8%–24%). The total volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration was markedly decreased by oregano EO and was not affected by rosemary EO. Both EOs mitigated rumen fermentations, but oregano EO gave rise to the highest reduction in methane and ammonia production. However, further research is needed to evaluate the use of these essential oils as dietary supplements by taking into account the negative effects on feed degradability.

Keywords: methane; ammonia; essential oil; oregano; rosemary; rumen; in vitro fermentation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/9/12856/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/9/12856/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:9:p:12856-12869:d:56000

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().