Simulation of nutrient digestion, absorption and outflow in the rumen: model description

A mathematical model is described that stimulates the digestion, absorption and outflow of nutrients in the rumen. The model consists of 17 state variables, representing nitrogen, carbohydrate, lipid, microbial and volatile fatty acid pools. The flux equations are described by Michaelis-Menten or mass action forms with parameters calculated from the literature. Several specific areas of improvement in representation of rumen processes were reconsidered during model development. These included microbial substrate preference, differential outflow and chemical composition of rumen microbes, recycling of microbial matter within the rumen, uncoupling of fermentation with respect to nitrogen availability, reduced microbial activity at reduced rumen pH and pH-dependent absorption of volatile fatty acids and ammonia. The model was used to examine the effects of the diet on the profile of nutrients available for absorption and was shown to respond appropriately to different intake and nitrogen levels. The validity of the improvements and the predictions of nutrient supply on a variety of dietary inputs are tested in a companion paper.