Microbiology and food group meeting

Abstract

Biuret is one of a number of possible non-protein nitrogen feeds for ruminant animals. Although it has a low toxicity, animals on first receiving a biuret-containing diet require some 2 weeks to 2 months to adapt to full utilisation of the compound.' It has been recognised for some time that this adaptation is a function of the rumen microflora. Studies on the utilisation of biuret by the rumen microbes have been carried out by several workers2*3 but all have suffered from a failure to isolate a viable biuret-utilising rumen micro-organism.