Why can penguins' stomachs keep food fresh?

Biologists have discovered that male king penguins can keep the undigested food stored in their stomachs fresh for up to three weeks. This ability of penguins provides food security for their young to avoid starvation. But why penguins' stomachs have such "talents" was once a mystery.

Biologists believe that an antimicrobial agent produced in the penguin's digestive system kills bacteria, thereby keeping food fresh.

In the cold Antarctic, when bad weather delays the mother penguins from bringing food home, the male penguins feed their young with the food they have "stored" in their stomachs. Cecile Soze of the French National Institute of Strasbourg said that experiments on seven male penguins on Posession Island in Antarctica showed that the temperature and pH value in their stomachs were ideal for the growth of bacteria, but why can the food in the stomach be kept fresh?

Penguins usually eat high-protein fish and squid, which can produce rich gastrointestinal microorganisms. But when Sozer tested the food samples stored in the penguins' stomachs, he found that there were many dead, inactive and deformed bacteria in the food, which were much more than the number of dead, deformed and inactive bacteria in the food samples of penguins that were digesting food.

Therefore, Sozer believes that penguins may use acrylic acid produced by marine phytoplankton to eliminate bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.

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