Final answer:
To ensure high producing ruminants effectively use the protein in their feed, nitrooxypropanoic acid can be added to reduce protein degradation by rumen microbes. This substance also lowers methane emissions and boosts meat production, as reported by E. Duin et al. in scientific literature. Ruminants have a unique digestive system with four stomach compartments that efficiently digest roughage and plant materials.
Step-by-step explanation:
You may want to feed more nitrooxypropanoic acid to a high producing ruminant, so that the protein in the feed escapes degradation. Ruminants are animals with a stomach divided into four compartments: the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum. They are known for their ability to digest roughage which is high in fiber but low in energy. This is possible due to the action of microbes within the stomach chambers that produce cellulase, an enzyme that breaks down cellulose in plant material, which animals cannot digest on their own.
However, these microbes also break down significant amounts of the protein in the feed before it can be used by the animal. To maximize protein utilization and thereby increase meat production rates, recent studies, like that of E. Duin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci, 2016, have found that nitrooxypropanoic acid can be used to reduce methane release by approximately 50% and to increase meat production by as much as 80%, by preserving the feed's protein content.
In terms of the digestive process, food is chewed in the mouth, passes through the esophagus into the rumen and then the reticulum, where microbes begin to break down and ferment the ingested plant material. The ruminant regurgitates cud from the rumen, which is then passed into the omasum for water removal, and finally into the small and large intestines for further nutrient absorption and water absorption before waste is excreted.