The potential of willow and hemp bioactive compounds to reduce methane and nitrogen emissions: in vitro and in vivo studies

Summary

Enteric methane emissions from ruminants, which contribute to global warming (ref), has initiated a wide range of research activities to identify sustainable feed additives and feed strategies for methane mitigation. Also, in organic production systems there is high demand to identify organic feed additives. Willow and hemp contain bioactive compounds such as condensed tannins (CTs), flavonols, flavanols, flavones and phenolic acids (PAs), generally called phenolic compounds (PCs), with the potential to inhibit methane and nitrogen emissions from ruminants.