A micro-artificial rumen for isotopic experiments

Abstract

An easily constructed artificial rumen has been designed for the study of nutrient digestion by the micro-organisms of the rumen. The apparatus is small enough to allow experiments with valuable isotopically labelled compounds. The rumen micro-organisms are dialysed against flowing clear rumen liquor from the same animal to supply essential growth factors and prevent the excessive accumulation of digestive products. The validity of the apparatus has been proven by using 3 biochemical criteria, namely the production of volatile fatty acids from cellulose, the release of soluble nitrogen from protein and the hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids.