Question

Explain the process of digestion of cellulose in ruminant animals like cow, with the help of a diagram​

Answer 1

Answer:

Ruminants are referred to the plant-eating mammals including sheep, goat, deer cattle, buffaloes, bison, giraffes, yaks, etc. These cud-chewing mammals have four chambers of stomachs used for their digestion. These species obtain their nutrition from plant products by adapting to a certain process called rumination. Through the action of rumination, they ferment the food, regurgitate and chew their food before the main digestion process.

The digestion process in Ruminants is completely different from humans. The general process of the food digestion begins from the mouth to the food pipe, from the stomach to the intestine and continues. In ruminants, this process is completely different.

Also Read: Digestion In Grass Eating Animals

Let us study in brief about the digestion process in Ruminants.

As we all come across many cows, buffaloes and other cattle’s roadside, which are always seen chewing food even though they don’t have food near them. This is because the digestion process in Ruminants begins by chewing and swallowing its food. The main diet for these animals includes grass, leaves and other parts of plants. The plant products have high fibre content and to digest the fibre present in the food which they eat, an enzyme called cellulase is required which is not produced by the animals themselves. The stomach of these herbivores is divided into 4 chambers, among which the most important one is the rumen, as it plays a major role in digesting the fibre present in the food.

Explanation: