Effect of Punica granatum and Tecomella undulata supplementation on nutrient utilization, enteric methane emission and growth performance of Murrah male buffaloes

To assess the effect of herbal extracts on nutrient utilization, enteric methane emission and growth performance, 15 growing Murrah male buffaloes were divided into 3 groups and offered control diet (total mixed ration; roughage:concentrate ratio 65:35), control diet supplemented with Punica granatum or Tecomella undulata extract at 2% of dry matter intake (DMI) for 90 days. The supplementation of herbal extracts did not alter DMI and nutrient digestibility, however the tendency (P = 0.058) to higher nitrogen retention was observed in groups fed diets supplemented with P granatum (72.9 g/day) and T. undulata extract (70.6 g/day) in comparison to control (64.3 g/day) group. No negative impact was seen as indicated by blood profile, which was within the physiological range. Supplementation of P. granatum or T. undulata extracts resulted in decrease in methane emission (g/kg average daily gain (ADG)) by 46 and 42%, respectively in comparison to control diet. The impact of decrease in methane emission and higher gross energy (GE) intake was visible in the daily body weight gain/day: the animals fed P. granatum and T. undulata extracts gained (P < 0.001) 28 and 21% more weight, respectively, in comparison to animals fed control diet. Therefore, the study established that the supplementation of diet with herbal extracts can help in ameliorating enteric methane production, thereby improving the growth performance in ruminants.