Origins of the Volatile Fatty Acids in the Rumen

Abstract

MEMBERS of the saturated fatty acid series C₁–C₇ are formed during the fermentation of wheaten hay or lucerne hay in the rumen of the sheep^1,2, and these acids, together with the methane and carbon dioxide also produced, account for a large part of the carbon of the digestible fraction of the fodder. Cellulose and hemicellulose form the bulk of this digestible material, and protein contributes to it to a lesser degree; it is therefore important to determine the nature of the products formed from each of these main components of the substrate. The fermentation of any particular compound may depend on the activities of a number of different organisms, and the detailed course of the degradation will present a difficult problem, involving, finally, a study of these organisms in pure culture. Its elucidation will, however, best be pursued in the light of knowledge of the products formed from the substance by the mixed culture of rumen organisms.