A Quantitative Study of Vitamins in the Rumen Contents of Sheep and Cows Fed Vitamin-Low Diets

Abstract

The rumen contents of four sheep fed a ration containing less than 0.3 μg. of riboflavin per gram were found to contain 33 μg. of riboflavin per gram. Evidence for the formation of riboflavin in the digestive tract of a cow fed the same deficient ration has been presented in two ways. That vitamin K is not a dietary essential for the cow is indicated by the finding that, although the experimental ration was practically free from this vitamin, the rumen contents of the experimental animal proved to be a good source of the factor.