Nutritional composition, bioactive potential, and in vitro rumen fermentation of tropical brown (Sargassum binderi) and green (Kappaphycus striatum) seaweeds as functional feed additives for ruminants

Vet World Vol.18 November-2025 Article - 4

Research Article

Veterinary World, 18(11): 3335-3351

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2025.3335-3351

Laras Sukma Sucitra¹, Mardiati Zain², Fauzia Agustin², Yetti Marlida², Despal Despal³, Bella Veliana Utami⁴, and Sharli Asmairicen⁵

1. Doctoral Program, Faculty of Animal Science, Andalas University, Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia.

2. Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Animal Science, Andalas University, Limau Manis Campus, Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia.

3. Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, Faculty of Animal Science, IPB University, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia.

4. Doctoral Program, Faculty of Animal Science, Andalas University, Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia. 2.

5. Research Center for Animal Husbandry, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong, Indonesia.

Background and Aim: Mitigating enteric methane emissions in ruminants remains a global challenge in achieving sustainable livestock production. Although seaweed supplementation has shown promising results, most research has focused on temperate species, leaving tropical species underexplored. This study investigated the nutritional composition, bioactive compounds, and in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics of two tropical seaweeds, brown seaweed (Sargassum binderi) and green seaweed (Kappaphycus striatum), as potential functional feed additives for ruminants.

Materials and Methods: The proximate composition, macro- and micro-minerals were determined using Association of Official Analytical Chemists and Inductively Coupled Plasma–Optical Emission Spectrometry methods. In vitro digestibility of dry matter digestibility (DMD) and organic matter digestibility (OMD) was evaluated using the Tilley and Terry two-stage technique. Rumen fermentation characteristics, pH, ammonia (NH3), and total volatile fatty acids (VFA), were analyzed after 48 h of incubation. Amino acids and fatty acids were profiled using high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography–flame ionization detection, respectively, while bioactive metabolites were identified through liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry metabolomics.

Results: Green seaweed exhibited a higher crude protein content (7.52%) and digestibility (DMD = 73.56%; OMD = 72.71%) than brown seaweed (6.84%; 46.38%; 44.99%). VFA production (136.75–151.75 mM) and NH3 concentrations (22.21–26.78 mM) differed significantly (p < 0.01) between species, while pH remained within the optimal range (7.00–7.21). Both seaweeds contained balanced essential and non-essential amino acid profiles and abundant polyunsaturated fatty acids, notably linoleic, α-linolenic, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and conjugated linoleic acid. Metabolomic screening identified ~85 bioactive compounds, including lipid-derived metabolites, amino alcohols, vitamins, and osmolytes such as betaine and cholecalciferol, indicating their potential to modulate rumen fermentation and enhance animal resilience.

Conclusion: Both S. binderi and K. striatum demonstrated promising nutritional and bioactive potential as ruminant feed additives. Their compositional diversity suggests species-specific applications – S. binderi as an energy-dense supplement and K. striatum as a functional additive for stress adaptation. However, further in vivo trials are necessary to determine optimal inclusion levels, long-term safety, and methane mitigation efficacy under production conditions.

Keywords: functional feed additive, Kappaphycus striatum, methane mitigation, rumen fermentation, Sargassum binderi, tropical seaweed.

How to cite this article: Sucitra LS, Zain M, Agustin F, Marlida Y, Despal D, Utami BV, and Asmairicen S (2025) Nutritional composition, bioactive potential, and in vitro rumen fermentation of tropical brown (Sargassum binderi) and green (Kappaphycus striatum) seaweeds as functional feed additives for ruminants, Veterinary World, 18(11): 3335-3351.

Received: 04-06-2025 Accepted: 16-10-2025 Published online: 06-11-2025

Corresponding author: Mardiati Zain E-mail: mardiati@ansci.unand.ac.id

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2025.3335-3351

Copyright: Sucitra, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.