Plant Phenolics in Animal Health and Methane Mitigation

Dr. Avijit DeySenior Scientist

ICAR- Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes, Hisar- 125 001

*avijitcirb@gmail.com

What are Plant Phenolics ?

Phenolics: compounds possessing one or more aromatic rings with one or more hydroxyl groups

Most abundant:1. Phenolic acids: Gallic, coumaric, caffeic, ferulic acids2. Flavanoids: Flavones, flavonols, flavanols, flavanones,

isoflavones, and anthocyanins3. Tannins: Hydrolysable and condensed tannins

Less common:Stilbenes and Lignans

Distribution

Human diets Animal diets

Tannins fractions of different tree leaves

Total phenolics and tannin fractions of some common tropical tree leaves

Leaves Hindi name

TPh NTPh TTPh CT

Acacia nilotica Desi babool 4.9 1.1 3.8 1.7

Artocarpus heterophyllus Kathal 24.2 1.3 23.0 19.1

Azadirachta indica Neem 2.9 1.3 1.7 0.6

Eugenia jambolana Jamun 8.5 1.1 7.4 4.2

Ficus bengalensis Bargad 19.6 3.5 16.1 12.6

Ficus glomerata Gular 17.5 1.4 16.2 12.1

Ficus infectoria Pakar 19.4 5.5 13.9 9.4

Grewia oppostifolia Bhemal 2.7 1.4 1.3 0.2

Mangifera indica Aam 5.8 1.4 4.4 0.9

Morus alba Tut 2.1 1.4 0.7 0.2

Musa paradisiaca Kela 1.7 0.8 0.9 0.6

Populus fastigiata Popler 4.6 1.1 3.5 1.1

Quercus incana Oak 15.4 2.1 13.3 7.2

Phenolics as AntioxidantsOxidative stress

Reactive oxygen and/or nitrogen species (ROS/RNS, e.g., superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl

radical, peroxynitrite)

>Endogenous antioxidant capacity

Leading to oxidation of a varieties of bio-molecules, such as enzymes, proteins, DNA and lipids

Development of chronic degenerative diseases including coronary heart disease, cancer and aging

Cont..

Erythrocytic antioxidant indices of lambs fed graded levels of F. infectoria leaf meal (FILM)

Attributes Treatments SEMCON FILM-I FILM-II FILM-III

Catalase (mK/g Hb) 9.5 a 10.1b 10.7 b 10.4 b 0.12

SOD (mmol MTT formazon formed/g

Hb) 1.5 a 1.7 ab 2.0 b 1.9 b 0.11

LPO (nmol MDA/g Hb) 73.9 b 65.2 a 63.9 a 60.8 a 1.11

GSH (mol/g Hb) 9.7 a 10.8 a 11.6 b 11.8 b 0.34

T-SH (mol/ml PRBC) 40.1a 46.0 b 46.1b 48.3 b 0.82

NP-SH (mol/ml PRBC) 4.4 4.4 4.6 4.6 0.12

P-SH (mol/ml PRBC) 35.6 a 41.6 b 41.5 b 43.7 b 0.62

a,b Mean bearing different superscript within a row differ significantly (p<0.05)

Cont..

Effect of condensed tannins supplementation through F. bengalensis leaves on erythrocytic

antioxidant indices in cows

Attributes Treatments SEMCON FBLM

Catalase (mK/g Hb) 9.8 a 10.9 b 0.16

SOD (mmol MTT formazon formed/g Hb) 1.7 a 2.3 b 0.21

LPO (nmol MDA/g Hb) 74.6 b 64.6 a 1.32

GSH (µmol/g Hb) 9.9 a 11.8 b 0.31

T-SH (µmol/ml PRBC) 39.4a 45.7b 0.86

a,b Mean bearing different superscript within a row differ significantly (p<0.05)

Phenolics as Immune-modulators

100

125

150

175

200

0 24 48 72 96

Skin

thic

knes

s (%

)

Hours post-inoculation

CT-0CT-1.0CT-1.5CT-2.0

Cont..

Cont..

Cont.

Phenolics in GI Parasitism• Resistance of gastrointestinal parasites (GIP) to

chemotherapeutic drugs have stimulated to search the potential of plant secondary metabolites as an alternative GIP control strategy.

• Plant CT may have direct or indirect effects on GIP.

Direct: 1. CT-nematode interactions, thereby affecting physiological functioning of GIP

2. Decrease the viability of the larval stages of several nematodes

3. Interfering with parasite egg hatching and development to infective stage larvae

Indirect: 1. Improving protein utilization

2. Improving host immune and antioxidant status

• Feeding of CT (1-2%) to goats through a leaf meal mixture (Ficus infectoria, Psidium guajava and Ficus bengalensis; 70:20:10) decreased faecal egg counts with improvement in feed efficiency and immune response.

• Inhibition of different developmental stages of Haemonchus contortus in sheep with improvement in nutrient utilization was observed by supplementation of CT (1.5% of DM) through a leaf meal mixture of Ficus infectoria and Psidium guajava

• The potential benefit of tannins on GIP also depends on nature of CT, their source and dose levels to animals. Type of parasites present in GIT, their habitat and degree of worm load also determine the efficacy of condensed tannins to GIP

Phenolics and Meat Quality

Cont..

Tannin-rich feeds could reduce or inhibit biohydrogenation of vaccenic acid to stearic acid, resulting in the accumulation of vaccenic acid (Priolo and Vasta, 2010) which has been reported to hypolipidemic (Jacome-Sosa et al., 2010) and anti carcinogenic effects in humans (Miller et al., 2003).

Rana et al. (2012) observed an increase (47% to 58%) in Δ9-desaturase activity by condensed tannin supplementation, resulting in an enhancement of total CLA content in muscle by indirectly regulating the Δ9-desaturase expression in tissues through changes induced in the profile of fatty acids absorbed.

Supplementation of quebracho tannins, flavonoids (genistein and hesperidin) improves meat quality by increasing colour, pH and water holding capacity (Kamboh and Zhu, 2013).

Phenolics in Methane Mitigation

• Two modes of action of tannins on methanogenesis (i) a direct effect on ruminal microbes and (ii) an indirect effect on fiber digestion to decrease production of hydrogen which is a substrate for methanogens

Moringa leves in methane reduction

Cont..

• Linear decrease in methane production with increasing (0.2- 2% of DM) levels of CT from different plant sources in the diet of ruminants (Tan et al., 2011; Cieslak et al., 2012) without hampering rumen fermentation.

• Some reports suggest that tannins have no effect on rumen methane production (Oliveira et al., 2007; Beauchemin et al., 2007).

• Effects of tannins on rumen protozoa, bacteria, fungi and methanogens, thereby methane production are variable and mostly depend on the type of tannins, their origin and supplementation levels.

Phenolics and Protein Utilization

Effect of graded levels of CT on in vitro degradability of nitrogen (IVDN) of groundnut cake

Source of CTIVDN at different CT levels (%)

SEM0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Artocarpus heterophyllus 0.92d 0.91d 0.85cC 0.75bC 0.68aC 0.66aC 0.05

Ficus bengalensis 0.92d 0.91d 0.79cB 0.68bB 0.61aB 0.58aB 0.07

Ficus glomerata 0.92d 0.91d 0.71cA 0.61bA 0.57aA 0.55aA 0.08

Ficus infectoria 0.92d 0.92d 0.80cB 0.67bB 0.59aB 0.57aAB 0.07

abcd/ABC means with different superscript within a row/ column differ significantly (p<0.01)

(Dey et al., 2006)

Phenolics and Animal Production

Conclusion• Natural phenolics have the ability to improve antioxidant status and

immunity of humans and animals.

• Plant phenolics especially condensed tannins can improve animal production by improving bioavailability of protein in the rumen and overcoming effects of gastro-intestinal nematodes.

• Potential of plant phenolics in reducing ruminal methanogenesis have attracted special attention for development of feeding strategy for reducing greenhouse gas from livestock sector.

• The manipulation of milk and meat quality, particularly with respect to fatty acid composition by feeding of plant phenolics, is an active area of research, which may result in human health benefit.

• Plant phenolics may indeed be beneficial for animal health and production, there is need for more animal study for identification of source and dose of phenolics for maximum advantage.

Thanks..