Effects of the methane-inhibitors nitrate, nitroethane, lauric acid, Lauricidin and the Hawaiian marine algae Chaetoceros on ruminal fermentation in vitro.

The effects of several methane-inhibitors on rumen fermentation were compared during three 24h consecutive batch cultures of ruminal microbes in the presence of nonlimiting amounts of hydrogen. After the initial incubation series, methane production was reduced greater than 92% from that of non-treated controls (25.8+/-8.1 micromol ml(-1) incubation fluid) in cultures treated with nitroethane, sodium laurate, Lauricidin or a finely-ground product of the marine algae, Chaetoceros (added at 1, 5, 5 and 10 mg ml(-1), respectively) but not in cultures treated with sodium nitrate (1 mg m1(-1)). Methane production during two successive incubations was reduced greater than 98% from controls (22.5+/-3.2 and 23.5+/-7.9 micromol ml(-1), respectively) by all treatments. Reductions in amounts of volatile fatty acids and ammonia produced and amounts of hexose fermented, when observed, were most severe in sodium laurate-treated cultures. These results demonstrate that all tested compounds inhibited ruminal methane production in our in vitro system but their effects on fermentation differed.