RUMEN-UP: News Plants and Plant Extracts To Decrease Methane And Nitrogenous Emissions From Ruminants And To Alleviate Nutritional Stress

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 01.0329

Key words (English)

Agriculture; Economic Aspects; Environmental Protection; Life Sciences; Resources of the Sea; Fisheries

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: 31QLK5-CT-2001-00992

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.1.5 Sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry

Short description (English)

See abstract

Abstract (English)

The aim is to develop new plants or plant extracts as dietary supplements for ruminants to replace chemical additives and growth-promoting antibiotics. The plant materials will be collected from botanical and industrial collections, and they will be evaluated for their ability to alleviate nutritional stress in ruminants, by preventing lactic acidosis and bloat, and to decrease pollution, by preventing methane formation and decreasing nitrogen excretions. Bloat and acidosis are distressing disorders, which result from malfunction of microbial digestion in the rumen. Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and ammonia, which form urinary urea, arise from normal rumen fermentation. The project will deliver plant-based, sustainable solutions to these problems. The results will benefit EU biotech and agricultural industries, and increase crop diversity.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 01.0329