The higher contribution of methane (CH4) to global anthropogenic potential is a cause of concern to livestock producers. Mimosa tannin gained recent acceptance as an additive for enteric CH4 mitigation. However, rumen fermentation and digestibility are compromised when large quantities of tannins are supplemented due to the presence of hydrolysable tannin and other non-tannin molecules in mimosa extract, which are toxic to animals. Purification could eliminate the toxins, and thus, reduce the CH4 yield without negative effects on rumen microbial activities and organic matter degradation. The Soxhlet extraction method was used to purify the tannin using organic solvents (ethyl acetate and pentanol). The unpurified, ethyl acetate purified, and pentanol purified tannins at the dosages of 10, 20, 30, and 40 g/kg DM of substrate (Eragrostis curvula hay) were evaluated for gas, CH4, and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) in comparison with substrate alone. Gas kinetics were tested using a simple exponential model with lag. The results showed that compared with control, gas, CH4, IVOMD, CH4/gas, CH4/IVOMD, gas/IVOMD, asymptotic gas volume (v), and rate of gas production (k) decreased (p < 0.01) linearly with the increase in the inclusion levels of all tannin extracts. Also, ethyl acetate purified and pentanol purified tannin extracts reduced gas and CH4 at lower dosage (30 g/kg DM) compared to unpurified tannin extract at a higher level (40 g/kg). Pentanol purified tannin was more effective at lower dosage (20 g/kg DM) in terms of CH4/gas and CH4/IVOMD. It was concluded that the purification of mimosa tannin with ethyl acetate and pentanol reduced potential gas production and CH4 without much reduction in substrate digestibility when up to 30 g/kg DM of feed was used. Lower inclusion levels of ethyl acetate and pentanol purified extracts could give a similar result with a higher dosage of unpurified tannin.
Keywords: Soxhlet; digestibility; ethyl acetate; inclusion level; methane; mimosa tannin; pentanol; purification.