EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Cattle can digest cellulose because they have cellulose-digesting bacteria called ruminococcus in the rumen. These bacteria produce an enzyme called cellulase that can breakdown cellulose to glucose.

Detailed explanation-2: -For humans, cellulose is indigestible, and the majority of gut bacteria lack the enzymes required to break down cellulose.

Detailed explanation-3: -As we have shown, a cow’s microbiome is very important for helping the cow to grow, because the microbes participate in the breakdown of the foods that the cow eats, providing the cow with nutrients.

Detailed explanation-4: -Bacteria carry out most of the digestion of sugars, starch, fiber, and protein for the cow. Protozoa swallow and digest bacteria, starch granules, and fiber. And fungi open up plant fibers to make them more easily digestible. It might be hard to digest what these roles actually mean, but it’s pretty simple.

Detailed explanation-5: -Ruminant animals digest cellulose via a symbiotic relationship with ruminal microorganisms. Because feedstuffs only remain in the rumen for a short time, the rate of cellulose digestion must be very rapid. This speed is facilitated by rumination, a process that returns food to the mouth to be rechewed.