Thursday, April 13, 2017
Onions in feed can reduce methane emissions.
Onion a vegetable is widely cultivated and its of the genus Allium,which also has garlic as a member. Onions are cultivated around the world and used mainly as food item but lately their medicinal values have been explored. Onions have been discovered to stop aphid attack in tomato plants thus reducing the use of pesticides,read. Onions can be used raw or cooked and it causes irritation to eyes when sliced. This irritation is linked to the chemical it contains(allicin) which incidentally is the potent power of onions and garlic. Onions just like garlic have been shown to reduce pungent ammonia odor in poultry houses,these can be grounded and mixed with litter to prevent smell and also sanitize poultry house. The onion or garlic when grounded and spread around perimeter of poultry house prevents pest invasion,while grinding garlic and adding to water of birds prevents coccidiosis and deworms the birds. Cannibalism can be prevented by rubbing garlic paste on birds to prevent pecking. Read more A study published in the journal of agricultural and food chemistry has shown that cattle fed with onions have reduced methane emissions because the allicin kills the methane generating bacteria in the stomach of cattle thus reducing the farting associated with the methane emissions. The clause to the trial was that the milk had onion (onion milk) taste thus reducing palatability and acceptability of the milk. The scientists, determined to get the onion into the cow without creating onion milk, figured they could track propyl propane thiosulfonate (PTSO), the chemical that gives onions their scent, in the milk. They fed 100 cows normal cow feed, and spiked 100 cows’ food with PTSO-containing onion extract, increasing by five grams per cow per day for five days, up to 25 grams. They then continued to feed the cows 25 grams of extract for two months. The tests result shows that 25 grams per day was an adequate amount of onion extract to feed cows, and that 2 milligrams per kilogram of PTSO was the maximum concentration to avoid making the milk taste like onions.