A Meta-Analysis of 3-Nitrooxypropanol Dietary Supplementation on Growth Performance, Ruminal Fermentation, and Enteric Methane Emissions of Beef Cattle

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP) on growth performance, ruminal fermentation, and enteric methane emissions of beef cattle using a meta-analytic approach. The final meta-analysis database included results from 15 scientific articles. The response variables were analyzed through random effects models, where the results were reported as weighted mean differences (WMD) between the treatments without 3-NOP and those supplemented with 3-NOP. The dietary inclusion of 3-NOP decreased (p p > 0.05) average daily gain and increased (p p p 4) emission, CH4 yield, and CH4 emission as a percentage of gross energy ingested decreased (p < 0.001) in response to 3-NOP dietary supplementation. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 3-nitrooxypropanol can be used as a nutritional strategy to improve feed efficiency and ruminal fermentation in beef cattle and, at the same time, reduce enteric methane emissions.

Keywords

• dietary additive
• methane enzyme inhibitor
• climate change
• meta-regression