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Photosynthesis, Food Production and Management of the Environment

Ruminants in the human food chain

  • 3 things to know
  • Components 01, 02 and 03

Overview

Recall questions on the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum, rumination and chewing the cud, how rumen microorganisms digest cellulose and supply volatile fatty acids and protein, the carbon dioxide and methane they produce, the mutualism, and the value and environmental cost of ruminants as food.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Name the four chambers of a ruminant's stomach in the order food passes through them.

Key term

Which two chambers of the ruminant stomach house the microbial population?

Key term

Which chamber is the true stomach of a ruminant, and what does it secrete?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Name the four chambers of a ruminant's stomach in the order food passes through them.

    Model answer

    The rumen, the reticulum, the omasum and the abomasum.

  2. 2

    Which two chambers of the ruminant stomach house the microbial population?

    Model answer

    The rumen and the reticulum.

  3. 3

    Which chamber is the true stomach of a ruminant, and what does it secrete?

    Model answer

    The abomasum, which secretes hydrochloric acid and protease.

  4. 4

    What is rumination?

    Model answer

    Rumination is the regurgitation of partly digested food as cud so that it can be chewed again before being swallowed.

  5. 5

    Explain the benefit to a cow of chewing the cud.

    Model answer

    Further chewing breaks the plant material into smaller pieces, increasing the surface area available to microbial cellulase and so speeding up digestion.

  6. 6

    Why can a cow digest cellulose when a human cannot?

    Model answer

    The cow does not produce cellulase itself, but it houses microorganisms that do, in conditions where they can break the cellulose down.

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