Evaluation of chitin and chitosan from insect as feed additives to mitigate ruminal methane emission

Greenhouse gases are produced through microbial activity in the digestive tract and feces of ruminants. The main gas is in the form of CH4 which has an impact 25 times more than carbon dioxide to retain heat. Efforts to reduce methane emission have been carried out through feed and nutritional approaches. Natural compounds that potentially can be used are chitin and chitosan which can be found on the exoskeleton of the insects. This experiment aimed to investigate the effect of chitin and chitosan extracts from black soldier fly (BSF) on methane emission and rumen fermentation profile in vitro. This study consisted of two phases, the first was chitin extraction from insect and the second was chitin and chitosan evaluation by using an in vitro rumen fermentation method. Extraction of chitin was obtained through three steps, i.e., delipidation, deproteination, and demineralization. Conversion from chitin to chitosan was performed by deacetylation. Parameters measured in the in vitro evaluation were gas production kinetics, pH and methane emission. Extracted chitin and chitosan were used as feed additives and able to positively modulate rumen fermentation and mitigate methane emission.Greenhouse gases are produced through microbial activity in the digestive tract and feces of ruminants. The main gas is in the form of CH4 which has an impact 25 times more than carbon dioxide to retain heat. Efforts to reduce methane emission have been carried out through feed and nutritional approaches. Natural compounds that potentially can be used are chitin and chitosan which can be found on the exoskeleton of the insects. This experiment aimed to investigate the effect of chitin and chitosan extracts from black soldier fly (BSF) on methane emission and rumen fermentation profile in vitro. This study consisted of two phases, the first was chitin extraction from insect and the second was chitin and chitosan evaluation by using an in vitro rumen fermentation method. Extraction of chitin was obtained through three steps, i.e., delipidation, deproteination, and demineralization. Conversion from chitin to chitosan was performed by deacetylation. Parameters measured in the in vitro evaluation were gas prod...