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Curry spices could hold the key to reducing the enormous
greenhouse gas emissions given off by grazing animals such
as sheep, cows and goats, scientists have claimed.
Research carried out at Newcastle University in the UK has
found that coriander and turmeric - spices traditionally used
to flavour curries - can reduce by up to 40pc the amount of
methane produced by bacteria in a sheep's stomach and then
emitted into the atmosphere when the animal burps.
Working rather like an antibiotic, the spices were found
to kill the methane-producing 'bad' bacteria in the
animal's gut, while allowing the 'good' bacteria to
flourish. The findings are part of an ongoing study led by
Dr Abdul Shakoor Chaudhry at Newcastle University.
There are around 30 million sheep in the UK, each producing
around 20 litres of methane a day, emitted by burping. Methane
(CH4) is more than 20 times as powerful
in terms of causing global warming as the main greenhouse
gas, carbon dioxide (CO2). As well as
the environmental implications, the animal itself also loses
an estimated 12pc of its food energy to methane production,
resulting in a lower milk and meat yield.
The study looked at five curry spices - cumin, coriander,
clove, turmeric and cinnamon. Each was 'ground up'
- as if chewed by the animal - and added to an invitro solution
mimicking that found in the rumen of the animal.
The most effective was found to be coriander, which reduced
methane production from 14 millilitres per gram of food to
eight - a drop of 40pc. Turmeric produced a 30pc reduction
and cumin 22pc.
Although the research was carried out using bacteria taken
from a sheep's gut, Dr Chaudhry said the results are to be
mirrored in other ruminants such as cows and goats.
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