It’s actually quite difficult to digest grass and get anything useful of it. I think this is why cows need four parts to their stomach: they’re for different steps needed to deal with grass.
Given how complicated it is to digest any food, though, and all the different chemical reactions that have to happen, I think the real question is how human beings can manage with just one stomach!
Edward is right – grass is pretty hard to digest, so it needs a lot of time in the gastric juices to be of any use to the cow. Actually, its the bacteria in the cow’s stomach that it gets a lot of its nutrients from – and the bacteria break down the grass.
Each of the four stomachs has a specific function and contains a different population of bacteria and enzymes. The four compartments to the stomach are called the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum, and the abomasum.
It’s actually quite difficult to digest grass and get anything useful of it. I think this is why cows need four parts to their stomach: they’re for different steps needed to deal with grass.
Given how complicated it is to digest any food, though, and all the different chemical reactions that have to happen, I think the real question is how human beings can manage with just one stomach!
0
Hi leelee1997
Edward is right – grass is pretty hard to digest, so it needs a lot of time in the gastric juices to be of any use to the cow. Actually, its the bacteria in the cow’s stomach that it gets a lot of its nutrients from – and the bacteria break down the grass.
Each of the four stomachs has a specific function and contains a different population of bacteria and enzymes. The four compartments to the stomach are called the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum, and the abomasum.
0