Animals cannot produce enzymes to digest cellulose, yet many termite species consume cellulose from plant material as a main part of their diet. how do termites access the nutrients contained in cellulose? animals cannot produce enzymes to digest cellulose, yet many termite species consume cellulose from plant material as a main part of their diet. how do termites access the nutrients contained in cellulose? termites have specialized mouthparts to mechanically break down the cellulose. the ingested plant material also contains enzymes for cellulose digestion. cellulose is digested intracellularly in the termite hindgut. mutualistic bacteria in the hindgut of the termite digest the cellulose into sugars.