Production of Lysozyme from Duck Egg Page 1 of 26 and Testing its Usefulness in Reduction of Methane Emission in Ruminants

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to prepare lysozyme from duck egg white and test its usefulness in the reduction of methane emission in ruminants. Triplicates of treatment were added with the additive of lysozyme from duck egg white along with 0.5 g of commercial animal feed and 50 ml of buffered rumen fluid. Moreover, controls were added with 0.5 g of commercial animal feed, 50 ml of buffered rumen fluid but without lysozyme from duck egg white. Triplicates of treatment and control were set for 24 h and 48 h of incubation. Total gas (TG) production at different stages was measured for all treatment and control samples. Total gas produced was also used to measure the amount of CH4 and CO2 released during the incubation period. The optimum incubation period for the experiment (i.e. 24 h and 48 h) was determined after conducting in vitro fertilization for 6 h, 24 h and 48 h of incubation that followed standard procedures and data was recorded. The data suggested that there was no production of methane after 6 h of incubation, thus 6 h sampling was dropped for the actual in vitro experiment. After 24 h of incubation, the mean value of CH4 production out of total gas production was higher (86.07%) in control as compared to treatment (76.80%). Similarly, after 48 h of incubation, the mean value of CH4 production out of total gas production was also higher (55.20%) in control as compared to treatment (50.30%). At 95% confidence interval, there was no significant difference in CH4 reduction in control as compared to treatment after 24 h and 48 h of incubation. Consequently, the study suggests that lysozyme from duck egg white supplementation may improve in vitro fermentation and reduce CH4 emissions from ruminants.