methane-reduction
Methane reduction in plant science refers to strategies that leverage plants and their associated microbiomes to decrease methane emissions from agricultural and natural ecosystems. Certain plants influence methanogenic and methanotrophic microbial communities in the rhizosphere and soil, making them potential tools for mitigating greenhouse gas output from farming systems. Understanding how plant biochemistry and root exudates modulate these microbial processes is an active area of research with implications for sustainable agriculture and climate change mitigation.
PubMed · 2026-04-02
Adding extracts from moringa, jatropha, and aloe vera to sheep feed reduced methane emissions by up to 17% and improved protein and dry matter digestion, without slowing animal growth. This suggests these plant-based additives could be a natural, sustainable tool for making livestock farming cleaner and more efficient.
Methane emissions dropped by up to 17% (jatropha), 12% (aloe), and 9% (moringa) compared to control lambs with no plant extract supplementation.
Moringa and jatropha extracts improved dry matter and crude protein digestibility, meaning lambs absorbed more nutrients from the same amount of feed.
Gut microbiome analysis showed an enrichment of genes linked to protein production and carbohydrate breakdown in moringa and jatropha groups, helping explain the digestibility improvements at a microbial level.
