Cellulase is an enzyme capable of breaking cellulose. If humans were able to produce cellulase in our stomach would we be able to digest grass? If not, what more things would we need in order to digest grass?
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$\begingroup$ Related: biology.stackexchange.com/q/59205/24354 $\endgroup$– Rodrigo de AzevedoCommented Apr 13, 2020 at 16:06
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No. Even for an herbivore, digesting grass, or plants to be more general, is hard, because they contain cellulose. Herbivores have different parts of a stomach, whereas humans only have one compartment, so in herbivores, the plants (or grass) enter the first part of their stomachs called the rumen, which contains a salty solution that breaks down cellulose, then, the herbivore will regurgitate the processed food, or cud, from the rumen, into their mouths, and break down the cellulose even MORE. The cud then enters back into the rumen and then digests as normal. So even if a human had cellulase, they would need a rumen, to break down the cellulose further.
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2$\begingroup$ But I have read somewhere (I can't find it) that some monogastric animals (with a one compartment stomach), specially small herbivores animals are able to diggest cellulose with a lesser efficiency than rumians animals. Futhemother cellulase, what another things have them to diggest it without a rumen? $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 21:36