The small intestine plays a crucial role in both digestion and absorption. As chyme enters from the stomach, it is mixed with bile from the liver and enzymes from the pancreas, enhancing the chemical breakdown of food. The small intestine's extensive surface area, lined with villi and microvilli, maximizes nutrient absorption into the bloodstream. This organ is where most nutrient absorption occurs in mammals, making it a critical component of the digestive system .

The large intestine's primary role in the digestive system is to process waste. It absorbs remaining water and salts from the material that could not be digested as food and transforms it into waste (feces). The large intestine connects the small intestine to the rectum, and it typically takes about 36 hours for waste to travel through the large intestine and be excreted through the anus .

Food ingestion begins in the mouth where it is mechanically broken down by chewing and mixed with saliva. The food then moves through the esophagus to the stomach, where it is further digested by stomach acids and enzymes into chyme. From the stomach, the chyme moves to the small intestine, where digestion continues with enzymes from the pancreas and bile from the liver, facilitating nutrient absorption. The remaining material passes into the large intestine, where water is absorbed and waste is formed. Finally, waste is excreted through the rectum and anus .

Mechanical processes in digestion start with the grinding action of teeth, or mastication, which breaks down food into smaller pieces for easier swallowing and further digestion. This is aided by the mechanical action of tongue and esophagus. Chemical processes involve the use of enzymes and acids, such as saliva in the mouth and gastric juices in the stomach, to further break down food into a form that the body can absorb. The combined mechanical and chemical processes allow for effective nutrient extraction and absorption .

The abomasum is known as the 'true stomach' of ruminants because it is similar in function to the stomach of non-ruminants. It is the last compartment of a ruminant's stomach, responsible for passing partially digested food to the small intestine. The abomasum secretes gastric juices, including acid and digestive enzymes, that further break down proteins and other nutrients. This process aligns closely with the functioning of the non-ruminant's single-compartment stomach, where such chemical digestion predominantly occurs .

Ruminants are able to extract more energy from fibrous plant materials because of their specialized four-compartment stomach system, especially the rumen, which facilitates microbial fermentation. This system allows for digestion through regurgitation and remastication, giving microbes more time to break down cellulose and other fibrous materials that are indigestible to many animals. The microbial activity in the rumen produces volatile fatty acids, which are a significant energy source. Non-ruminants lack such a complex system, resulting in less efficient digestion of fibrous materials .

Ruminant animals have a four-compartment stomach consisting of the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum, which allows them to digest food multiple times through regurgitation and remastication. This complex stomach system is necessary for breaking down plant materials that are difficult to digest. In contrast, non-ruminant animals have a single-compartment stomach, which is simpler and requires only one cycle of digestion without regurgitation. The capacity of the ruminant stomach is larger, accommodating large quantities of food .

The omasum, often referred to as 'manyplies', plays a specific role in maximising digestive efficiency by absorbing water and nutrients from the food material passing through the ruminant digestive system. It acts as a filter, ensuring that larger particles are redirected back to the rumen for further breakdown while allowing only adequately processed particles to move forward. This selective absorption and significant reduction in volume of digesta aids in maintaining an optimal digestive balance and efficiency within the ruminant's system, enhancing its ability to efficiently process and extract nutrients from fibrous diets .

The reticulum and rumen work together closely in the ruminant digestive system. Both are located primarily on the left side of the abdomen. The rumen serves as the primary fermentation chamber for the initial breakdown of fibrous plant materials, while the reticulum functions to trap and collect denser objects and large particles of food that are not adequately broken down. This partnership allows the efficient processing of plant material, ensuring that only suitably size-reduced particles progress to the next digestive steps, improving overall digestion efficiency .

The rumen is the largest compartment in the ruminant digestive system, serving primarily as a storage area for chewed vegetation and forming cud. It hosts a complex microbial ecosystem that breaks down fibrous plant materials, which are difficult for many animals to digest. This process allows ruminants to utilize a wide variety of plant-based foods efficiently. Compared to non-ruminant digestion, the rumen allows for regurgitation and remastication, which increases the efficiency of plant digestion considerably .