Effect of Leaves Containing Bioactive Compounds from North Eastern Region of India on In Vitro Fermentation and Methane Production

The leaves of ambervel (Tinospora cordifolia), air plant (Bryophyllum pinnatum), papaya (Carica papaya), harad (Terminalia chebula), arjun (Terminalia arjuna), bahera (Terminalia bellirica), bael (Aegle marmelos), katahal (Artocarpus heterophyllus), curry tree (Murraya koenigii), chota dhatura (Xanthium strumarium), lohpohi (Vernonia albicans), bhedai lota (Padaraea foetida) were tested for their effects on gas and methane production, in vitro true digestibility (IVTD) and fermentation characteristics in in vitro gas production test using goat rumen liquor as inoculum. The substrate used was concentrate mixture and wheat straw mixed in 1: 1 ratio. Inclusion of leaves powder at 10% level resulted in reduction (P<0.05) in gas production ml/g DM or DDM of the substrate with only bhedai lota leaves. The highest inhibition of methane production (ml/g DM or DDM) was observed with bahera (49.3% inhibition) followed by papaya (31.1% inhibition), ambervel (17.4% inhibition), air plant (18.1% inhibition and katahal leaves (16.7% inhibition) with no change in TVFA and acetate to propionate ratio. The IVTD of substrate ranged from 60.96 to 65.5% including control showing no effect of inclusion of any of the leaves on IVTD of the feed. The results indicated that bahera, papaya, ambervel, air plant and kathal leaves appeared to have a potential to inhibit rumen methanogenesis without adversely affecting rumen fermentation characteristics.