A study of the water-soluble phosphate concentration of the ruminal contents in normal and phosphorus deficient animals

Abstract

It has been established that in ruminants there is a circulation of water-soluble phosphorus from the blood, through the saliva into the rumen and back via the small intestine. A high water-soluble phosphorus concentration of the ruminal ingesta is thus maintained irrespective of the diet or the phosphorus level of the blood. There is, therefore, no indication that the supplementation of a phosphorus deficient diet with water-soluble phosphate will have any effect on ruminal function.