Sliced omasum is one of the chinese dim sum known as "Niubaiye" (Chinese: 牛百頁)

The omasum, also known as the bible^[1], the fardel^[1], the manyplies^[1] and the psalterium^[1], is the third compartment of the stomach in ruminants. Dim sum is the name for a Chinese cuisine which involves a wide range of light dishes served alongside Chinese tea. Physiologically a ruminant is a Mammal of the order Artiodactyla that digests plant-based food by initially softening it within the animal's first stomach known Though its functions have not been well-studied, it appears to primarily aid in the absorption of water, magnesium, and the volatile fatty acids produced by rumen fermentation. The numerous folds of its mucosa are thought to trap digesta particles to increase their residence time for this said absorption.

There is some evidence that the contractions of the omasum can propel large particles backwards through the reticulorumen orifice, the junction connecting the omasum with the reticulorumen, into the reticulorumen, the first compartment of the ruminant stomach. The reticulorumen represents the first chamber in the Alimentary canal of Ruminant animals In this way, the omasum allows large particles, which still likely contain appreciable amounts of fermentable substrate, to be further digested in the reticulorumen. (Though fermentation initiated in the reticulorumen can continue in the omasum, it does so in only limited quantities, so this mechanism of ejecting largely unfermented particles into the reticulorumen is necessary for complete fermentation. The reticulorumen represents the first chamber in the Alimentary canal of Ruminant animals )

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} The Chambers Dictionary, Ninth Edition, Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2003