Between 60 and 70% of the digestion of nutrients takes place in the rumen, about 80% of the energy used by ruminants is defined by fermentation characteristics.
The development of studies on metabolism and microbial ecology allows to obtain information on the interactions between different foods, the ruminal microbiota and the condition of the animal to evaluate the efficiency of nutrient utilization and the impact of the processes involved in the quality of the product animal and the environment that sustains them.
The Laboratory develops in vitro experimental works linked to lines of work such as:
1) Studies of specific nutrients.
2) Efficiency of microbial protein synthesis.
3) Fermentation final products.
4) Studies related to the manipulation of ruminal fermentation: microbial ecology, fermentation modulators, e.g. secondary compounds, additives, drugs, etc.
5) Search, isolation and selection of microbial species.
6) Quantitative information for use in simulation models.