**7.1 Probiotics**

Probiotics are commonly defined as "live micro-organisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host." Other authors indicate that a probiotic food carries 106–107 CFU/g viable probiotic cells, until the shelf life of the product is reached [65]. Probiotic foods contain sensitive ingredients, such as probiotic cells that require protection against oxidative stress, high acidity, freezing, shear stress, and other undesirable factors. Although microencapsulation has been primarily used to protect bioactive ingredients due to its advantages [66], co-extrusion technology has become an emerging alternative to encapsulate probiotic bacteria.

**127**

CFU g<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup>

head<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup>

or ruminal parameters.

gible changes on H<sup>+</sup>

NDF digestibility.

**9. Current strategies**

day<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup>

authors concluded that 3 g head<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup>

*Climate Change Mitigation in Livestock Production: Nonconventional Feedstuffs and Alternative…*

**8.1 The use of the extrusion process in the supplementation of probiotics**

Extrusion processing using oil and alginate solutions to create emulsions as core medium [67] has found a favorable survival of probiotic *L. acidophilus* at 4°C for 50 days. Over the years and because of technological advances, extrusion has become an almost unlimited cooking processing alternative due its inherent versatility. Multiple studies had focused on designing and evaluating the incorporation of biomass, distillery by-products, fruit pomaces, agro-industrial by-products, and dairy residues [68]. One of the main advantages of the thermal and pressure conditions during extrusion is the inactivation of antinutritional factors, elimination of pathogens, improved digestibility, reduced level of toxins, as well as the bitterness of some oil plants (flax, cotton, peanut, and sunflower) while achieving the desired organoleptic characteristics by properly adjusting residence times, specific energy absorbed, and pressure effects on the raw materials [67]. Other authors extruded rye whole meal to decrease microbial contamination and used it as cultivation medium for the evaluation of supplementation of dairy cow ration

results showed an increase (P < 0.05) of milk yield but did not affect milk composition or ruminal fermentation parameters. *Lactobacillus sakei* KTU 05-6 (9.6 log10

On the other hand, a different study evaluated the effect of different doses of probiotic containing 1.6 × 109 CFU/g of *Bacillus licheniformis* and 1.6 × 109 CFU/g of *Bacillus subtilis* on in vitro digestibility of concentrates and forages [70]. These

digestibility after 12 h of incubation, indicating a promotion of NDF digestibility in roughages and starch in concentrates, although no significant changes were obtained of acetate, propionate, and butyrate molar ratios, possibly due to negli-

microorganisms [71]. An enhanced VFA production results in a pH reduction and growth inhibition of fermenting fibrous carbohydrate bacteria, which compromise

There is a lot of information about supplementation of secondary metabolites, certain additives, and increasing concentrate fraction in the diet of livestock to abate methane emissions. However, some producers in developing countries are not able to afford these alternatives. Otherwise, methane production in ruminants in developing countries is directly correlated to a poor quality in feedstuffs offered to livestock, by decreasing the efficiency and productivity for productive unit [72]. In this way, the strategies that producers and researchers in developing countries use imply the production of improved forage sources which is cheaper than the acquisition of some supplements. Additionally, the use of these forage sources may increase the fertility in the soil which is desirable for nitrogen fixation. Consequently, by improving the quality and quantity of forage, the productivity will increase, and methane production will be reduced by productive unit.

d<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup>

**9.1 Methane reduction through improvement of the forage quality**

head<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup>

) was also analyzed but showed no significant impact on yield

concentrations that affect the environmental pH of ruminal

day<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup>

of probiotic increased by 10.9% starch

) [69]. Obtained

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89433*

**8. Extrudates and extrusion process**

with *P. pentosaceus* BaltBio02 (9.6 log10 CFU g<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup>

*Climate Change Mitigation in Livestock Production: Nonconventional Feedstuffs and Alternative… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89433*
