Effect of ICymbopogon citratus/I on Enteric Methane Emission, Nutrients Digestibility, and Energy Partition in Growing Beef Cattle

Methane production is a waste of energy for ruminants and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the anti-methanogenic effect of increasing the supplementation levels of Cymbopogon citratus (CC) on the dry matter intake (DMI), digestibility, methane (CH[sub.4]) production, and partitioning of the gross energy intake in growing beef heifers fed with a diet high in forage (68.6% forage: 31.4% concentrate). An experiment was conducted using Holstein × Charolais heifers distributed in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. The experimental treatments were: (1) control diet (CO), (2) CO + 30 g CC DM/d, (3) CO + 60 g CC DM/d CC, and (4) CO + 90 g CC DM/d. A reduction of 22.4% in methane yield (CH[sub.4] g/kg DMI) and a reduction of 21.2% in the Ym factor was observed with the 30 CC treatment (p ≤ 0.05). However, no significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed for the total daily CH[sub.4] production, DMI, nutrient digestibility, and gross energy intake partitioning in the heifers. Therefore, we concluded that the supplementation of 30 g CC DM/d reduced the CH[sub.4] yield without affecting the animal performance. However, the anti-methanogenic properties of Cymbopogon citratus deserve more investigation.