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. 2022 Oct 31;12(21):2998. doi: 10.3390/ani12212998

Table 5.

In vivo trials that studied the effect of garlic on ruminant productivity.

In Vivo Studies Basal Diet
(Forage and Concentrate Ratio)		 Garlic Form
Supplementation		 Level of Supply Effects in Ruminant Productivity References
Buffalo
Buffalo Concentrate was offered at 0.5% of BW, while rice straw was given on ad libitum basis Coconut oil and garlic powder 7% coconut oil plus 100 g/d of garlic powder ↑ BUN; C3; Total bacteria population; Amylolytic and proteolytic bacteria; rumen ecology

↓ CH4; Total VFA; C2; C2/C3 ratio; protozoal population		 [111]
Buffalo Concentrate and roughage diet which comprised of concentrate mixture, berseem, and wheat straw Garlic powder 2% of DMI ↑ Milk production; Digestibility
↓ CH4 		[113]
Cattle
Cattle TMR according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Mootral (garlic and citrus extract) 15 g/d ↓ CH4

  • CO2 and O2 did not differ between treatments

DMI, average daily gain, and feed efficiency remained similar in control and supplemented steers		 [106]
Cattle Concentrate at 5 g/kg BW with UTRS fed ad libitum Garlic powder 40 g/d ↑ pH; C3; rumen fermentation efficiency
↓ CP digestibility; NH3-N; C2; CH4; Population sizes of bacteria and protozoa; proteolytic bacteria; amylolytic and cellulolytic bacteria		 [87]
Cow
Cow TMR DAD DAD was fed at levels of 56 mg/kg DM and 200 mg/kg DM in Exp. 1 and Exp. 2, respectively. This is equivalent to 1.0 or 3.3 g/cow per day [150]
Cow Fed with ad libitum with urea-treated rice straw and concentrate at 0.5 g kg−1 body weight (BW) twice daily Garlic powder 80 g d−1 C3; N retention and absorption

C2/C3; Protozoa		 [151]
Cow TMR Garlic essential oil 5 g/kg DM ↑ Feed digestibility

↓ The flow of bypass protein to the small intestine		 [149]
Goat
Goat 600 g/kg DM of concentrate and 400 g/kg DM of cowpea/maize silage in a ratio of 1:3, respectively Garlic oil 20–35 g ↑ ADF & lignin digestibility, total VFA, FCR, NH3-N, digestibility
↓ CH4, protozoa		 [109]
Goat Grass hay (Leymus chinensis, 0.38 kg/d DM) and concentrate (0.22 kg/d DM) Garlic oil 0.8 g/d [152]
Sheep
Ewe TMR based on barley-based diet Garlic oil 0.02 g/kg DM ↑ Methanosphaera stadtmanae, Methanobrevibacter smithii
Alter the diversity of rumen methanogens without affecting the methanogenic capacity of the rumen		 [108]
Ewe TMR ALL 2 g/head day OM; N; NDF; ADF digestibility
↓ CH4; protozoa and methanogens 		[107]
Lamb A barley-based concentrate diet ad libitum Garlic essential oil 200 mg/kg DM

  • No effects on intake and ruminal fermentation characteristics compared to lambs fed unsupplemented diet

  • The addition of garlic did not affect carcass characteristics or meat quality and had small effects on FA composition of back fat and liver

It seems unlikely that these minor changes will have any impact on the health properties of lamb meat		 [103]
Lamb Free access to a natural grassland hay [921.1 g dry matter (DM)/kg and concentrate (889.0 g DM/kg)] Combined garlic essential oil and linseed oil Linseed oil (1.6 mL/kg BW) and garlic essential oil (3 μL/kg BW) ↓ CH4; VFA

  • A long-term early-life intervention induced modifications in the composition of the rumen bacterial community

  • There was no persistency of the early-life intervention on methanogenesis

 [112]
Lamb According to Ministry of Agriculture of P. R. China, 2004 Garlic skin 80 g/kg DM ADG; VFA; Prevotella, Bulleidia, Howardella, Methanosphaera
↓ Fretibacterium

  • Favourably regulated pyrimidine metabolism, purine metabolism, vitamin B6 and B1 metabolism

  • High correlations between uctuant rumen microbiota and metabolites

 [91]
Sheep
Sheep Control diet (basal total mixed ration with no additive = CTR) Raw garlic or garlic oil Dose of raw garlic (75 versus 100 g/kg DM) and garlic oil (500 versus 750 mg/kg DM) C3; C2/C3 ratio

  • NDF; ADF by garlic oil supplementation; Protozoa in a dose-independent manner; NH3

 [105]
Sheep Mixed hay (Hay-diet, as control) and hay plus garlic stem and leaf silage diet (GS-diet, at ratio of 9:1) Garlic stem and leaf silage 66 g/kg BW 0.75/d DM ↑ Nitrogen digestibility; C3; C5; Glucose; plasma LeuTR and WBPS

↓ Plasma non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA)		 [101]
Sheep Meadow hay (3rd cut, vented) and concentrate (barley grain and soybean meal; 700:300) offered in a 1:1 ratio Garlic oil 5 g garlic oil or 2 g DAD/kg dietary DM ↑ Digestibility and energy use efficiency

↓ Concentrate intake; Low palatability		 [110]
Sheep Mixed hay plus concentrate at 60:40 ratio FDGL 2.5 g/(kg BW 0.75·d) ↑ NH3-N; Glucose
↓ CH4; DM ingested		 [114]
Sheep Forage to concentrate ratio of 1:1 Bulb of garlic 1% of DM ↑ Nutrient digestibility (DM, OM, NDF, ADF, and cellulose) [93]

ADF: Acid Detergent Fibre; ADG: Average Daily Gain; ALL: Allicin; BUN: Blood Urea Nitrogen; BW: Body Weight; C2: Acetate; C3: Propionate; C5: Butyrate; CP: Crude Protein; DAD: Diallyl Disulphide; DM: Dry Matter; DMI: Dry Matter Intake; FA: Fatty Acid; FCR: Feed Conversion Ratio; FDGL: Freeze-Dried Garlic Leaves; NDF: Neutral Detergent Fibre; NEFA: Plasma Non-Esterified Fatty Acids.OM: Organic Matter; TMR: Total Mix Ratio; UTRS: Urea-Treated Rice Straw; VFA: Volatile Fatty Acid.