Cud is a portion of food that returns from a ruminant's stomach in the mouth to be chewed for the second time. More accurately, it is a bolus of semi-degraded food regurgitated from the reticulorumen of a ruminant. Cud is produced during the physical digestive process of rumination, or "chewing the cud". The idiomatic expression chewing one's cud means meditating or pondering. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Ruminantia. ... Look up bolus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Regurgitation is the controlled flow of stomach contents back into the oesophagus and mouth. ... The reticulorumen represents the first chamber in the alimentary canal of ruminat animals. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Ruminantia. ... Rumination may mean a calm lengthy intent consideration, but can have several meanings, which need to be adressed separately Cud chewing of Cows and other Ruminants Negative cyclic thinking, persistent and recurrent worrying or brooding; see Clinical depression, Obsessive-compulsive disorder Rumination (eating disorder) This is a disambiguation page &#8212...

Explanation

The alimentary canal of ruminants, such as the cow, goat, sheep and antelope, is unable to produce the enzymes required to break down the cellulose and hemicellulose of plant matter. Accordingly, these animals have developed a symbiotic relationship with a wide range of microbes, which largely reside in the reticulorumen, and which are able to synthesise the requisite enzymes. The reticulorumen thus hosts a microbial fermentation which yields products (mainly volatile fatty acids and microbial protein), which the ruminant is able to digest and absorb. For the Physics term GUT, please refer to Grand unification theory The gastrointestinal or digestive tract, also referred to as the GI tract or the alimentary canal or the gut, is the system of organs within multicellular animals which takes in food, digests it to extract energy and nutrients, and... COW is an acronym for a number of things: Can of worms The COW programming language, an esoteric programming language. ... Species See Species and subspecies The goat is a mammal in the genus Capra, which consists of nine species: the Ibex, the West Caucasian Tur, the East Caucasian Tur, the Markhor, and the Wild Goat. ... Species See text. ... Genera Aepyceros Alcelaphus Antidorcas Antilope Cephalophus Connochaetes Damaliscus Gazella Hippotragus Kobus Madoqua Neotragus Oreotragus Oryx Ourebia Pantholops Procapra Sylvicapra Taurotragus Tragelaphus and others Antelope are herbivorous mammals of the family Bovidae, often noted for their horns. ... Neuraminidase ribbon diagram An enzyme (in Greek en = in and zyme = blend) is a protein, or protein complex, that catalyzes a chemical reaction and also controls the 3D orientation of the catalyzed substrates. ... Cellulose as polymer of β-D-glucose Cellulose in 3D Cellulose (C6H10O5)n is a polysaccharide of beta-glucose. ... A hemicellulose can be any of several heteropolymers (matrix polysaccharides) present in almost all cell walls along with cellulose. ... Common Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) in their Magnificent Sea Anemone (Heteractis magnifica) home. ... A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is so small that it is microscopic (invisible to the naked eye). ... Volatile fatty acids are fatty acids with a carbon chain of six carbons or fewer. ...

Process of rumination

The process of rumination is stimulated by the presence of roughage in the upper part of the reticulorumen. The chest cavity is stretched, forming a vacuum in the gullet that sucks the semi-liquid stomach content into the esophagus. From the esophagus it is taken back to the mouth with retro peristaltic movements. When the stomach content, or the cud, arrives in the mouth of the ruminant, it is pushed against the palate with the tongue to remove excess liquid, the latter is swallowed and the solid material is chewed thoroughly. The function of rumination is that food is physically refined to expose more surface area for bacterial working in the reticulorumen, as well as stimulation of saliva secretion to buffer the rumen pH. Dietary fibers are long-chain carbohydrates (polysaccharides) that are indigestible by the human digestive tract. ... The esophagus (also spelled oesophagus/Å“sophagus, Greek ), or gullet is an organ in vertebrates which consists of a muscular tube through which food passes from the pharynx to the stomach. ... In much of the digestive tract, muscles contract in sequence to produce a peristaltic wave which forces food (called bolus while in the esophagus and chyme below the esophagus) along the alimentary canal. ... Saliva is the watery and usually frothy substance produced in the mouths of humans and some animals. ... Acids and bases: Acid-base reaction theories pH Self-ionization of water Buffer solutions Systematic naming Electrochemistry Acid-base extraction Acids: Strong acids Weak acids Superacids Lewis acids Mineral acids Organic acids Bases: Strong bases Weak bases Superbases Lewis bases Organic bases edit Buffer solutions are solutions which resist change... For other uses, see PH (disambiguation). ...

Chemistry

The reticulorumen has an optimum pH of 6.5 for the microbe population to live and function. Consumption by ruminants of an insufficiently fibrous diet leads to little cud formation and therefore lowered amounts of saliva production. This in turn is associated with rumen acidosis, where the rumen pH can fall to as low as pH 5 or lower. Rumen acidosis is associated with a lowered appetite which leads to still lower rates of saliva secretion. Eventually, a collapse of the microbial ecosystem in the rumen will occur because of the low pH. Acute rumen acidosis can lead to death of the animal, and will occur if the animal is allowed to eat a diet with no roughage but high levels of highly digestible starchy concentrate. It is thought that most dairy cows in intensive systems of milk production have sub-acute acidosis because of the high rates of cereals in their diets relative to an insufficient amount of forage. ^{[citation needed]} Acidosis is an increased acidity (i. ... A coral reef near the Hawaiian islands is an example of a complex marine ecosystem. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Final digestion

When food has been degraded efficiently it passes from the reticulorumen through the reticulo-omasal orifice to the omasum followed by the abomasum to continue the digestion process in the lower parts of the alimentary canal. No enzymes are secreted in the rumen. Enzymes and hydrochloric acid are only secreted from the Abomasum (fourth stomach) onwards, and ruminants function from that point onwards much like monogastric animals, such as pigs and humans. The omasum, also known as the manyplies, is the third compartment of the stomach in ruminants. ... The abomasum is the fourth and final stomach compartment of the stomach in ruminants. ... The chemical compound hydrochloric acid is the aqueous (water-based) solution of hydrogen chloride gas (HCl). ... The abomasum is the fourth and final stomach compartment of the stomach in ruminants. ...