ABSTRACT
Livestock production is rapidly developing, motivated by the flourishing human population and consequent demand for animal products. In light of their polysaccharide diversity and complexity, the livestock species best suited to be fed on seaweeds may be herbivorous animals, particularly ruminants. Ruminants are herbivorous animals with a unique digestive adaptation: the development of three forestomachs and the characteristic feature of rumination of ingested feeds. To varying extents, carbohydrates from brown seaweed can be hydrolysed by the ruminal population, leading to the production of methane and acetic acid. Rumen methanogens represent a small portion of the microbiome but play an important role in rumen function by disposal of excess reducing power. The use of seaweeds as a feed additive with a positive impact in the mitigation of methane emissions should be viewed as a new and complementary strategy in the current toolbox for methane mitigation based on the use of feed additives.
