Cellulose acts as a roughage in man but serves as a nutrient in cow. Justify your answer.

In our body cellulose acts as a roughage because our digestive system is not able to digest it and hence it is removed from our body as such in the form of roughage.
Cow belong to a class of animals known as ruminants. They have a digestive system which allows them to utilise roughage (cellulose) as a major source of nutrients. They have a large fluid filled digestive organ at the beginning of the digestive tract called rumen, which contains a large population of microbes. These microbes have the ability to break down cellulose and hemicellulose, which are main components of roughage.

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Cellulose is a component present in the plant. In human beings, caecum, a part of large intestine which has the ability to digest the cellulose is now a vestigial organ i.e. it is now no more active due to the evolution. And this is why it is not able to diget the cellulose and give us nutrition and hence cellulose acts as a roughage in man.

On the other hand, caecum is well developed in cow and other herbivores so the cellulose is easily digested in them and there cellulose acts as a nutrient-giving component in cow.

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