Methane Emission from Enteric Fermentation: Methanogenesis and Fermentation

Rumen fermentation of carbohydrates plays a fundamental role in ruminant metabolism as the main source of energy. Acetic, propionic and butyric acids (namely, volatile fatty acids, VFA) are the main products of the rumen fermentation of structural and nonstructural carbohydrates con- tained in the ruminant’s diet. The metabolic pathways involved in VFA production are strictly linked to methane emission, because hydrogen is actively produced during the fermentation of structural carbohydrates, and it is rapidly metabolised by methanogens, in order to maintain the optimal thermodynamic condition for the metabolism of the microbe consortium in the rumen. Hydrogen plays also a fundamental role in the maintenance of the equilibrium among VFA pathways and in their interconversion. In this chapter, after a brief chemical description of dietary carbohydrates, individual VFA pathways are described in order to put in evidence the thermodynamic control points of each pathway and the production of energy and reductive equivalent. Then, the relationship between hydrogen, VFA and methane production has been reviewed, considering the role of some dietary factors, the substrate competition between different meta- bolic pathways and the models of VFA estimation.