Identification of bioactives from the red seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis that promote antimethanogenic activity in vitro

Asparagopsis taxiformis has potent antimethanogenic activity as a feed supplement at 2 % of organic matter in in vitro bioassays. This study identified the main bioactive natural products and their effects on fermentation using rumen fluid from Bos indicus steers. Polar through to non-polar extracts (water, methanol, dichloromethane and hexane) were tested. The dichloromethane extract was most active, reducing methane production by 79 %. Bromoform was the most abundant natural product in the biomass of Asparagopsis (1723 mu g g(-1) dry weight [DW] biomass), followed by dibromochloromethane (15.8 mu g g(-1) DW), bromochloroacetic acid (9.8 mu g g(-1) DW) and dibromoacetic acid (0.9 mu g g(-1) DW). Bromoform and dibromochloromethane had the highest activity with concentrations aeyen1 mu M inhibiting methane production. However, only bromoform was present in sufficient quantities in the biomass at 2 % organic matter to elicit this effect. Importantly, the degradability of organic matter and volatile fatty acids were not affected at effective concentrations.