Nitrous oxide emissions from the urine of beef cattle as regulated by dietary crude protein and gallic acid1

Abstract

Two consecutive trials were carried out to study the effects of dietary CP and adding gallic acid (GA) in basal rations on nitrogen (N) metabolism and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from the urine of beef cattle. In Trial I, eight Simmental castrated male cattle with initial liveweight of 310.5 ± 21.5 kg were used as experimental animals. Two levels of dietary CP (113.5 and 150.8 g/kg DM) and two levels of GA (0.0 and 15.2 g/kg DM) were used as experimental treatments in a 2 × 2 reversal design. Two cattle received each treatment in each of two experimental periods. Each experimental period lasted 19 d, of which the first 14 d were for adaptation and the last 5 d were for sampling. In Trial II, the urine samples collected from Trial I were used for measuring N2O-N emissions using static incubation technique. Glass jars containing soil were used as the incubation vessels. Three jars were used for each of the urine samples as replicates and two jars without urine samples were used as blanks. The incubation lasted 15 d, and the daily N2O-N emission from each jar was determined using gas chromatography. The results showed that no effects of interactions were found between dietary CP and GA on the N metabolism of beef cattle and the estimated cattle N2O-N emissions (P > 0.05). Increasing dietary CP from 113.5 to 150.8 g/kg DM increased the excretions of total N, urinary N, and urea (P < 0.001), whereas adding GA at 15.2 g/kg DM in ration did not affect these parameters (P > 0.05). Increasing dietary CP from 113.5 to 150.8 g/kg DM increased the estimated cattle urine N2O-N emissions by 36.8% (without adding GA) and 32.3% (adding GA at 15.2 g/kg DM) (P < 0.01), whereas adding GA at 15.2 g/kg DM in ration decreased the estimated cattle urine N2O-N emissions by 28.5% (dietary CP 113.5 g/kg DM) and 30.9% (dietary CP 150.8 g/kg DM) (P < 0.01). The inhibiting effects of GA on decreasing the N2O-N emissions of urine could have been resulted from the effects of GA metabolites including pyrogallol and resorcinol excreted in urine. Feeding cattle with relatively low dietary CP or adding GA in ration is effective to decrease the N2O-N emissions from the urine patches of beef cattle applied to soil.

Keywords: cattle; dietary crude protein; gallic acid; nitrous oxide; urine.