Digestion In Ruminants - System and its Process

Digestion In Ruminants: Animals that consume plants, for example, sheep, goats, cattle, buffaloes, bison, giraffes, yaks, and deer, are ruminants. They have four-chambered for digestion by these cud-chewing mammals. These animals can only eat plant-based products, which is known as rumination. They chew, regurgitate, and ferment their food through ruminating before the main digestive process.

Digestive Enzymes

Digestive System of Ruminants

• Mouth
• Esophagus
• A four-compartment stomach, which includes
• The rumen
• The reticulum
• The omasum
• The abomasum
• Small intestine
• Large intestine

Digestion Definition And Human Digestive System

Rumen

• The largest stomach part and collection of sacs is the rumen, located on the animal's left side. Due to its size, the rumen is a storage or holding vat for feed.
• The rumen serves as a vessel for fermentation in addition to storage. Microbes can flourish well in the rumen's environment. These bacteria consume or ferment grain within the rumen to produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Most of the VFAs produced through fermentation are absorbed in the rumen.
• The rumen is lined with tiny protrusions called papillae, expanding the rumen's surface area and absorption capacity.

Reticulum

• In the anterior region of the body, close to the heart, lies a pouch-like structure called the reticulum.
• The tissues of the reticulum form a network resembling a honeycomb.
• The reticulum and rumen are separated by a tiny tissue fold, although they are not distinct organs.
• This compartment collects metal objects and grain that is heavy or dense that the cow eats.
• The tissue may become damaged by nails and other sharp objects, leading to "hardware disease."

Diffusion Means Of Transport

Omasum

• A globe-shaped structure called the omasum contains tissue leaves (like pages in a book).
• It takes on things from the digestive tract, including water and other digestive content.

Abomasum

• Glands line only the abomasum. To break down food, these glands release hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes. The abomasum resembles a non-ruminant animal's stomach.

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Digestion Process in Ruminants

• The process of digestion starts with the chewing and swallowing of food in ruminants. When ruminants feed, they only consume or gulp as much food as possible before swallowing it.
• This is essentially an adaptation that these animals have developed to consume food as quickly as possible to avoid being hunted by predators.
• By softening the ingested substance, the rumen and reticulum, the first two chambers of the stomach, begin digestion. Later, the rumen's bacteria manufacture the cellulase enzymes needed to break down the cellulose.
• The vitamins, proteins, and other organic acids produced by breaking down the plant fibres are then taken into the animal's bloodstream along with other nutrients.
• The next chamber is used to send coarse plants for additional digestion. Here, further bacterial activity occurs, and the meal is transformed into pliable bits known as cud.
• The animal then regurgitates the chewed cud back into its mouth to continue chewing. The cow's saliva substantially facilitates the cud's digestion.

Difference Between Vitamin D and Vitamin D3

• Following chewing, the food enters the third chamber of the stomach without passing through the stomach's first two chambers. The food molecules are further crushed and compressed by the third chamber's walls before being transferred to the abomasum, the fourth chamber.
• Abomasum is the last part of the stomach where final digestion occurs.