Opportunities and Challenges for the Use of Tannin Sources in Ruminant Nutrition

Dear Colleagues,

Tannins are a complex group of phenolic compounds widespread throughout the plant kingdom, occurring at different levels and structural types in several ruminant feeding sources. Recent years have seen an increasing interest in the use of plants and plant extracts rich in tannins in ruminant diets for improving animal health and wellbeing, product quality and feed efficiency, as well as to mitigate the environmental impact of ruminant production systems.

Although promising, the results on the use of tannins in ruminant nutrition are controversial, resulting in detrimental, innocuous, or beneficial effects. Several factors, such as the type and chemical structure of tannins, the amount ingested, composition of the basal diet, and the species of animal can contribute to the inconsistent response to tannins.

However, to achieve the optimal conditions for the use of tannins in the ruminant diets and to avoid detrimental effects, further works are needed in different research topics.

This Special Issue is interested in both reviews and original research papers on the use of tannin feed sources in ruminant nutrition with a focus on the fate of tannins in animals, action mechanisms, the impact on ruminal metabolism and feed efficiency, and the effects on animal performance, health and wellbeing and product quality.

Dr. Eliana Jerónimo
Guest Editor

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