Rumen

The rumen is the largest compartment of a ruminant’s stomach, where a dense microbial community ferments plant material and produces nutrients the animal can absorb.

Rumen microbiome: The community of bacteria, archaea, fungi, and other microorganisms living in the rumen. These microbes break down feed components that the animal cannot digest with its own enzymes.
Ruminant: A mammal with a multi-compartment stomach that ferments plant food before enzymatic digestion. Ruminants possess a rumen as the largest compartment of their stomach.
Rumen acidosis: A disorder in which excessive acid production lowers rumen pH and disrupts fermentation. Rapid fermentation of readily digestible feed can overwhelm the rumen’s buffering and absorption.
Hindgut fermentation: Microbial fermentation of plant material in the large intestine or enlarged cecum. Unlike rumen fermentation, it occurs after most enzymatic digestion in the small intestine.
Cellulose: A structural polysaccharide in plant cell walls, made of glucose units linked into long chains. Rumen microbes ferment cellulose from forage into absorbable products.
Reticulum: The stomach compartment adjoining the rumen, with a distinctive honeycomb-like lining. It works closely with the rumen, sorting particles and directing material during regurgitation.
Bloat: A dangerous distension of the rumen caused by trapped fermentation gases. Gas that cannot be expelled by eructation can expand the rumen and impair breathing.
Monogastric digestive system: A digestive system centered on a single-chambered stomach. Monogastric animals generally lack a rumen and depend more on their own digestive enzymes.
Volatile fatty acids: Short-chain fatty acids produced by microbial fermentation and absorbed by the host. They are the main energy-rich products absorbed from rumen fermentation.
Omasum: The stomach compartment with many folds that absorbs water and other substances from digesta. Fermented material passes from the rumen and reticulum into the omasum.

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