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US-20260125715-A1 - EXTRACTION OF ANTIMETHANOGENIC COMPOUNDS

US20260125715A1US 20260125715 A1US20260125715 A1US 20260125715A1US-20260125715-A1

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to liquid (e.g., water-soluble) compositions comprising antimethanogenic compounds, and methods of administering the same to reduce enteric methane emissions from ruminant animals, and/or improve feed-efficiency. Certain disclosed compositions exhibit improved rapid effect over prior art compositions. The disclosure further relates to methods of concentrating antimethanogenic compounds, extracting antimethanogenic compounds, and methods of increasing the bioavailability of antimethanogenic compounds.

Inventors

  • Tamara Lee Loiselle
  • Jianwei Chen

Assignees

  • SYNERGRAZE INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251104

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method of extracting antimethanogenic compounds from a cell, comprising the steps of: a) providing a cell containing an antimethanogenic compound; b) off-gassing the cell, thereby creating a gas above the cell, said gas comprising the antimethanogenic compound; and c) capturing the gas of step (b); wherein the antimethanogenic compound is extracted from the cell.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the off-gassing the cell is enhanced through heating or by circulating air around the cell.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein capturing step (c) comprises returning the antimethanogenic compound gas to a liquid or solid state.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein capturing step (c) comprises reducing vapor pressure of the antimethanogenic compound in the gas.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein capturing step (c) comprises stopping heating and/or reducing temperature of the antimethanogenic compound in the gas.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein capturing reducing temperature of the antimethanogenic compound in the gas.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein capturing comprises contacting the antimethanogenic compound in the gas with a liquid carrier.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the liquid carrier is an oil.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the liquid carrier is a glycol.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the liquid carrier is a water-soluble carrier selected from the group consisting of acetic acid, diethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, propylene glycol, and triethylene glycol.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cell is an algal cell.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cell is a recombinant microbial cell producing an antimethanogenic compound.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the algal cell is selected from the group consisting of Laminaria saccharina, Laminaria digitata, Fucus vesiculosis, Fucus distichus, Alaria esculenta, Chorda filum, Ceramium rubrum, Corallina pilulifera, Pelvetia canaliculate, Ascophyllum nodusum, Chondrus crispus, Plocamium hamatum, Gigartina stellata, Enteromorpha linza, Ulva lacta, Bonnemaisonia hamifera, Asparagopsis taxiformis, Asparagopsis armata, Gracilaria spp., Antithamnionella sarniensis, Antithamnion plumula , and Macrocystis pyrifera.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the antimethanogenic compound is selected from the group consisting of methyl bromide, methyl chloride, methyl iodide, methyl fluoride, bromodichloromethane, trichlorethylene, bromoform, chloroform, iodoform, fluoroform, dibromomethane, and a combination thereof.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the antimethanogenic compound is bromoform.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the antimethanogenic compound that is captured in step (c) contains fewer non-antimethanogenic compound contaminants compared to a control extract produced by directly contacting a liquid carrier with the cell.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least 60% of the antimethanogenic compound in the gas is captured in step (c).
  18. 18 . The method of claim 1 , comprising the step of incorporating the extracted antimethanogenic compound into a food, medicine, or dietary supplement for a ruminant animal.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the medicine or dietary supplement comprises an oil infused with antimethanogenic compound, a capsule containing antimethanogenic compound, a glycol infused with antimethanogenic compound, or a tincture with antimethanogenic compound.
  20. 20 . A method of extracting antimethanogenic compounds from a cell, comprising the steps of: a) providing a cell containing an antimethanogenic compound; b) off-gassing the cell, thereby creating a gas above the cell, said gas comprising the antimethanogenic compound; and c) capturing the gas of step (b) by reverting the antimethanogenic compound gas to a liquid or solid state, separate from the cell; wherein the antimethanogenic compound is extracted from the cell.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 19/061,532, filed on Feb. 24, 2025, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/891,931, filed on Sep. 20, 2024, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,281,342, which is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CA2024/051095, filed on Aug. 23, 2024, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/578,538, filed on Aug. 24, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD The present disclosure relates to water-soluble compositions comprising antimethanogenic compounds and methods of using the same to increase feed efficiency and reduce enteric methane emissions from ruminant animals. The disclosure further relates to methods of extracting and concentrating antimethanogenic compounds. BACKGROUND Ruminant animals produce and expel methane as part of their digestive process, specifically during the fermentation of undigested food in the rumen. However, methane is a greenhouse gas that is contributing to global warming. In terms of its potency, methane is 34-times more powerful than CO2 on a 100-year timescale and 86-times more powerful over a 20-year timescale for altering earth's climate. By some estimates, methane emissions from agricultural production need to be reduced by 24-47% by 2050 relative to 2010 to meet the 1.5° C. target of the Paris Agreement (Rogelj J., et al., Global Warming of 1.5° C. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Geneva, Switzerland: 2018. Mitigation pathways compatible with 1.5° C. in the context of sustainable development; pp. 93-174). 37% of methane emissions from human activity are the direct result of our livestock and agricultural practices. A single cow can produce between 154 and 264 pounds of methane gas per year; combined, methane emissions from cattle raised specifically for meat production emit at least 231 billion pounds of methane into the atmosphere each year (Agriculture and Aquaculture: Food for Thought, October 2020, available on the world wide web at epa.gov/snep/agriculture-and-aquaculture-food-thought). Both microalgae and macroalgae are known to produce metabolites (for example halogenated compounds) that inhibit enteric methane production (antimethanogenic compounds). An example of one such metabolite is bromoform (CHBR3). Bromoform is a halogenated methane that is naturally produced by many types of algae, such as those belonging to the genus Asparagopsis. Algae that are known to naturally produce bromoform have an enzyme (bromoperoxidase) that catalyzes the formation of bromoform. Bromoform is known to be an inhibitor of methanogenesis in ruminant animals, and studies have been conducted on reducing methane production in ruminant animals by including trace amounts of bromoform with their feed. Specifically, halogenated aliphatic compounds with 1 or 2 carbons such as bromoform block the function of corrinoid enzymes and inhibit cobamide-dependent methyl group transfer in methanogenesis (Wood J. et al., Reaction of multihalogenated volatile fatty acids with free and bound reduced vitamin B12, Biochem. 7 (1968) pp. 1707-13. See also Roque B. M. et al., Inclusion of Asparagopsis armata in lactating dairy cows' diet reduces enteric methane emission by over 50 percent, J. Clean. Prod., 234 (2019) pp. 132-138; Kinley R. D. et al., The red macroalgae Asparagopsis taxiformis is a potent natural antimethanogenic that reduces methane production during in vitro fermentation with rumen fluid, Anim. Prod. Sci., 56 (2016), pp. 282-289; Li X. et al., Asparagopsis taxiformis decreases enteric methane production from sheep, Anim. Prod. Sci., 58 (2018), pp. 681-688; and Kinley R. D. et al., Mitigating the carbon footprint and improving productivity of ruminant livestock agriculture using a red seaweed, J. of Cleaner Prod. 259 (2020). Currently, one conventional way of including antimethanogenic compounds in animal feed is to collect and freeze-dry algae that are known to naturally produce these compounds (such as those of the genus Asparagopsis) and to introduce the freeze-dried algae into the feed. However, algae such as Asparagopsis spp. may contain malodorous components. These odor triggering components reduce the palatability of the feed that has been supplemented with compositions derived from algal biomass. Additionally, freeze-drying algae is not cost-effective, and the product has a relatively short shelf-life. Antimethanogenic compounds in edible oil is another approach, and has several advantages over freeze-dried algae. One such advantage is that the oil can stabilize the antimethanogenic compound, thereby increasing the shelf life of the product. Another is that it removes the malodorous components that make freeze-dried algae less palatable. However, the oil must be administered via an animal feed product, something that's not realistic for free-range cattle. Thus, there is a need for more efficien