Open AccessSome quantitative data on the role of the ruminant proventriculi in the digestion and absorption of nitrogen-free organic matter
Author(s) -
L. Paloheimo,
Anna R. Mäkelä
Publication year - 1955
Publication title -
agricultural and food science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.347
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1795-1895
pISSN - 1459-6067
DOI - 10.23986/afsci.71389
Subject(s) - lignin , abomasum , organic matter , hay , digestion (alchemy) , ruminant , chemistry , feces , zoology , digestive tract , food science , agronomy , biology , rumen , chromatography , organic chemistry , ecology , pasture , medicine , fermentation
Fourteen cows and five young bulls were fed with hay uniformly during 10 days. After slaughtering, the ingesta of the abomasum were removed and sampled. From the hay, from the contents of the abomasum, and from the feces lignin, N-free organic matter, and N-free non-lignin organic matter were determined. Using the lignin ratio principle, the digestibility of the two N-free fractions was calculated both for the proventriculi and for the whole digestive tract. It appeared that of the total amount of the N-free non-lignin organic matter digested in the whole digestive tract, 76—99 % was digested in the proventriculi. If the results for two of the cows are discarded, the limits in the cows are 85 and 91 %. On the basis of this investigation it can be concluded that in cattle carbohydrates are digested mainly in the proventriculi and their degradation products are absorbed principally from these stomachs.