Question

The partially digested food in the stomach of ruminants is called
A. Bud
B. Cud
C. Ruminant
D. Rumen

Answer 1

Hint: Digestive system of ruminants is like ours except that their stomach is four-chambered. They have a chamber in the stomach called rumen which partially digests the ingested food.

Complete answer: Digestive tract of cattle consists of mouth, esophagus, a stomach with compartments, small intestine, and large intestine. They are called ruminants. They have a chamber in the gut called the rumen. In the rumen, some microbes are able to ferment the ingested food and then produce volatile fatty acids. These are the cow's main energy source. Vitamin B, vitamin K, and amino acids are also produced by gut microbes.
The digestion process of food is a little different in ruminants. Ingested food enters the gut quickly after chewing. The first chamber it enters is the rumen. Along with microbial digestion, the rumen juices also digest the food partially. This partially digested food in the stomach is called a ‘cud’.

Additional information: Ruminant stomachs have four compartments: the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum, and the abomasum.
1. Rumen: The rumen is the largest part of the cow's stomach, can hold up to 50 gallons of partially digested food at any given time.
It contains enzymes that initiate the digestion process, helps to break down the hard food and cellulose. The food may take up 15 to 48 hours in and out of the rumen being chewed, swallowed, regurgitated, and swallowed again and again before it moves on to the second part of the stomach, the reticulum.
2. Reticulum: The reticulum traps anything that the cow should not have ingested, such as pieces of fencing, rocks, and pieces of wire. The reticulum also softens the grass that has been eaten and produces small wads of cud.
3. Omasum: The omasum has many folds to filter the food substances, squeeze out the water, and later break down the cud.
4. Abomasum: The abomasum finalizes the digestion process. It passes essential nutrients to the bloodstream and passes the rest through the intestines.

So, the correct option is B. Cud.

Note: Ruminants have stomachs with four compartments, viz.
1) rumen,
2) reticulum,
3) omasum and
4) abomasum.
The four chambers have common names too. “Paunch”, "honeycomb”, "many-plies", and "true stomach" refer to the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum respectively.