Efficiency of monolaurin in mitigating ruminal methanogenesis and modifying C-isotope fractionation when incubating diets composed of either C3 or C4 plants in a rumen simulation technique (Rusitec) system.

Mitigation of methanogenesis in ruminants has been an important goal for several decades. Free lauric acid, known to suppress ruminal methanogenesis, has a low palatability; therefore, in the present study the aim was to evaluate the mitigation efficacy of its esterified form (monolaurin). Further, 13C-isotope abundance (delta13C) and 13C-12C fractionation during methanogenesis and fermentation were determined to evaluate possible microbial C-isotope preferences. Using the rumen simulation technique, four basal diets, characterised either by the C3 plants grass (hay) and wheat (straw and grain), or the C4 plant (13C excess compared with C3 plants) maize (straw and grain), and a mixture of the latter two, were incubated with and without monolaurin (50 g/kg dietary DM). Added to hay, monolaurin did not significantly affect methanogenesis. When added to the other diets (P < 0.05 for the wheat-based diet) methane formation was lowered. Monolaurin decreased fibre disappearance (least effect with the hay diet), acetate:propionate ratio, and protozoal counts. Feed residues and SCFA showed the same delta13C as the diets. Methane was depleted in 13C while CO2 was enriched in 13C compared with the diets. Monolaurin addition resulted in 13C depletion of CO2 and enrichment in CH4 (the latter only in the hay diet). In conclusion, monolaurin proved to effectively decrease methanogenesis in the straw-grain diets although this effect might partly be explained by the concomitantly reduced fibre disappearance. The influence on 13C-isotope abundance and fractionation supports the hypothesis that ruminal microbes seem to differentiate to some extent between C-isotopes during methanogenesis and fermentation.