Abstract

This study assessed the potential of a pine bark extract (PBE) to decrease methane (CH4) and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) production in vitro. Dietary substrates, mixed hay, soybean meal and corn grain, were supplemented 0, 2, 4 and 6% of PBE and incubated in an in vitro batch culture for 24-h. Incubations were run three times. Total gas production (GP) was determined at 6, 12 and 24-h and gas samples were analysed for CH4. Samples were collected for volatile fatty acids (VFA) and NH3-N analysis. Treatments were compared by polynomial contrasts for PBE concentration. Increasing PBE caused linear decreases in NH3-N, microbial biomass production and digestibility, whereas the degradation rate was quadratically reduced. Total VFA were decreased but total GP and CH4 production and kinetics were unaffected. The inclusion of 2% PBE in ruminant feed has the capability to reduce NH3-N concentration by 50%, without affecting diet digestibility or CH4 production.