[Rusitec--fermentation equipment for the study of digestive processes in ruminants].

The fermentation equipment RUSITEC (Rumen Simulation Technique) is a simplified model of the rumen which stimulates the conditions inside the rumen, enables to keep the normal microbial population of the rumen for a long time under strictly controllable conditions, and enables a permanent monitoring of fermentation processes. Trials were conducted to see whether this model of "artificial rumen" can be used to determine the nutritive value of untreated beech sawdust and beech sawdust treated hydrobarothermically at the pressure of 1.4 MPa and impregnated with 1% H2SO4. The digestibility of the dry matter and fibre components was higher in the treated beech sawdust than in the untreated sawdust. In both reaction vessels, the amounts of acetic, propionic and butyric acids as well as the total VFA, were higher during the fermentation of treated beech sawdust, as compared with the diet with raw beech sawdust. The increased output of VFA, especially the acetic and butyric acids, resulted in a proportional increase in the output of gases, especially carbon dioxide and methane, as compared with the production of gases in rumens digesting untreated beech sawdust. In comparison with other in-vitro methods, this model of fermentation equipment characterizes the nutritive values of various kinds of feed in a more thorough way: using this equipment, the simulation technique has proceeded much closer to reality.