SynthesisJournal of animal science2025
The effect of fumaric acid on ruminant enteric methane emission and ruminal volatile fatty acids concentration: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of animal science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Malic Acid Supplementation on Rumen Fermentation, Nutrient Digestibility, Performance and Carcass Traits in Lambs: A Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression Considering Dietary Moderators.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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Abstract
Methane emitted by ruminants represents an energy loss from feed intake and contributes to global warming. Fumaric acid (FA), a key intermediate in rumen metabolism, acts as an alternative electron acceptor and offers a potential strategy to reduce methane production. This meta-analysis systematically evaluated the effects of FA supplementation on enteric methane emissions and rumen fermentation in ruminants. Thirteen peer-reviewed studies met the inclusion criteria, contributing 22 effect sizes from 13 studies: six on cattle (dairy and beef cattle), seven on small ruminants (sheep and goats). Effect sizes were calculated as mean difference (MD) for methane yield (g/kg dry matter intake [DMI]), relative mean difference (RMD) for methane production (g/day) and DMI (kg/day), and standardized mean difference (SMD) for volatile fatty acids. A multilevel meta-analysis model was used to account for study-level variation. FA supplementation had no effect on DMI (P = 0.25; RMD = -2.75) but significantly reduced methane production (P = 0.005; RMD = -19.21). Meta-regression showed that increase in FA (g/kg DMI) decreases in methane production by 0.272% (P = 0.02). Methane production was significant in small ruminants (P = 0.002; RMD = -24.67) but not in cattle (P = 0.52; RMD = -7.03). The effectiveness of FA in reducing methane production was not (P > 0.05) affected by variations in dietary forage, concentrate, or neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content in FA-supplemented animals. Methane yield decreased (P = 0.001; MD = -1.954) in FA-supplemented animals, while the efficacy of FA was not influenced (P > 0.05) by diet composition (forage %, concentrate %, NDF %). FA had no effect on ruminal acetate (P = 0.49; SMD = -0.299), but increased propionate (P = 0.01; SMD = 0.970). In summary, FA supplementation did not affect DMI but reduced methane production and yield in small ruminants. While in cattle, FA supplementation may have limited impact on methane emission.
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