ANIMAL NUTRITION

The Digestive System in Mammals

ANIMAL NUTRITION

FOOD
PROCESSING

ingestion digestion absorption elimination

ANIMAL NUTRITION
• Most animals are heterotrophs.
organisms that cannot create their own
food; obtains energy from outside
resources
• Diverse diets
 • Production of ATP by ingestion
ANIMAL and digestion of food

DIET
• Organic building blocks, such as
organic carbon and organic
nitrogen, to synthesize a variety
of organic molecules

• substances that animals require but

cannot assemble from simple
organic molecules
Amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins,
minerals
 AMINO ACIDS

• All organisms require a standard set of 20 amino

acids to make a complete set of proteins.
• Some animals can naturally produce all 20 amino
acids.
• Some can only synthesize half of it as long as the
diet has sulfur and nitrogen. The remaining amino
acids are obtained from the food in pre-fabricated
form, called essential amino acids.
 FATTY ACIDS
• Animals need fatty acids to synthesize a
variety of cellular components
- membrane phospholipids, signaling
molecules, storage fats
• Animals can synthesize many fatty acids but
they lack enzymes to form the double bonds
found in certain required fatty acids.
• Instead of being synthesized, some fatty acids
are obtained through diet and these are called
essential fatty acids.
VITAMINS
• Vitamins are
organic molecules
that are required in
the diet in very
small amounts
(0.01 – 100 mg per
day, depending on
the vitamin)
• Substances that
make you ill if not
taken as part of a
diet
MINERALS
• Dietary minerals are inorganic nutrients that are usually required in small
amounts.

Iron: incorporated into the oxygen carrier hemoglobin

Sodium, Potassium, Chloride: functioning of nerves and muscles; maintaining
osmotic balance between cells and the surrounding body fluid
Iodine: incorporated in the thyroid hormone, which regulates metabolic rate
Calcium, Phosphate: building and maintaining bone
DIETARY DEFICIENCIES
MALNUTRITION results from a diet that lacks one or more of the essential
nutrients or consistently supplies less chemical energy than the body
requires.

Deficiencies in Essential Nutrients

• causes deformities, diseases, and even death
DIETARY DEFICIENCIES
UNDERNUTRITION results from a diet does not provide enough chemical energy.

An undernourished individual will

• use stored carbohydrates and fats.
• break down its own proteins for fuel
• loose muscle mass
• suffer protein deficiency of the brain
• If energy intake < energy expenditures, an animal will eventually die or suffer
irreversible damage.
• ANOREXIA NERVOSA – weight loss to a level that is unhealthy for the individual’s
age and height may be related to a distorted body image
THE ANIMAL DIGESTIVE
SYSTEM
• The animal digestive system includes organs involved in the mechanisms by
which animals process food.
Ingestion: eating or feeding
Feeding Mechanisms
1. Suspension Feeding and Filter Feeding
• aquatic animals which strain small organisms or food particles from the
surrounding medium such as water; capture or trapping mechanisms
2. Substrate Feeding
• animals that live in or on their food source
3. Fluid Feeding
• suck nutrient-rich fluid from a living host
4. Bulk Feeding
• animals, including humans, which eat relatively large pieces of food
Digestion: break down of food into
small molecules enough to be
absorbed
1. Mechanical Digestion includes grinding and chewing, breaks food into small
pieces that increases surface area.
2. Chemical Digestion cleaves large molecules into even smaller components that
can pass through membranes; these are used to create large molecules it
needs

Enzymatic Hydrolysis is a process under chemical digestion that uses digestive

enzymes to split bonds in molecules through the addition of water.
Sucrose + Water = Glucose + Fructose
(proteins to peptides/amino acids, nucleic acids to nucleotides)
Absorption and Elimination

• Absorption is a process by which animal’s cells take up (absorb) small

molecules produced during digestion such as amino acids and sugars.

• Elimination is a process by which undigested material passes out of the

digestive system, and completes the process.
How are animals able to digest food without
digesting their own cells and tissues?
Animals process food in specialized, digestive compartments.
 INTRACELLULAR
DIGESTION
• It refers to the enzymatic hydrolysis of food
inside vacuoles.
• It starts after a cell engulfs solid food by
phagocytosis or liquid food by pinocytosis.
• Food vacuoles fuse with lysosomes (organelles
containing hydrolytic enzymes) allowing the
digestion to occur safely within a compartment
enclosed by a membrane.
 EXTRACELLULAR
DIGESTION
• Refers to the breakdown of food particles
outside of cells

• Gastrovascular cavity: simple animals; single-

opening, two-way digestion (food in, waste
out)
 EXTRACELLULAR
DIGESTION
• Alimentary canal: complete digestive
tract, more complex, one-way tubes
with mouth and anus
 HUMAN DIGESTIVE
SYSTEM

DIGESTIVE TRACT
• composed of the alimentary canal
and accessory glands (salivary
glands, pancreas, liver, gall
bladder)
• coiling and folding that allows
lengthy tubes to fit
• Lined with mucus-secreting
epithelium
 HUMAN
DIGESTIVE
SYSTEM
After food is chewed and
swallowed, it takes 5-10
seconds for it to pass
down the esophagus and
into the stomach, where
it spends 2-6 hours
being partially digested.
Further digestion and
nutrient absorption
occur in the small
intestine over a period of
5-6 hours. Within 12-24
hours, any undigested
material passes through
the large intestine, and
feces are expelled
through the anus.
 Chewing
and
Swallowing

SALIVA is composed of a mucus and large amounts of amylase.

• Mucus lubricates food for easier swallowing, protects gums against
abrasion, and facilitates smell and taste. It contains buffers which help
prevent tooth decay by neutralizing acids and antimicrobial agents.

• Amylase is an enzyme that breakdown starch and/or glycogen. It prevents

food particles to get stuck on teeth/ It’s also present in the small intestine,
where chemical digestion occurs.
 Chewing
and
Swallowing

Each bolus of food is received by the pharynx (throat region), which leads to
two pathways: esophagus and trachea.

• Esophagus is a muscular tube that connects to the stomach.

• Trachea leads to the lungs.

Food should be towards the esophagus to prevent choking, a blockage of the

trachea that results in the lack of airflow into the lungs and hence can be fatal.
 Chewing and
Swallowing

Within the esophagus, food is pushed along by peristalsis,

alternating waves of smooth muscle contraction and relaxation.

Upon reaching the end of the esophagus, the bolus encounters a

sphincter, a ring-like valve muscle. It regulates the passage of the
ingested food into the stomach.
 Digestion in the Stomach
• Stomach has two major functions: storage
and processes food into a liquid suspension
- can stretch to accommodate about 2 L
of food and fluid
- secretes a digestive fluid called gastric
juice and mixes it with food through a
churning action – chyme
Chemical Digestion in the
Stomach
The gastric juice is made of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and protease.

• Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) disrupts extracellular matrix that binds cells together
in meat and plant material. It makes the gastric juice to have a pH = 2, which
is acidic enough to kill most bacteria and denature proteins in food,
increasing exposure to peptide bonds.

• The exposed bonds are attacked by the protease, or a protein-digesting

enzyme called pepsin. It best works in acidic environments. By breaking
peptide bonds, it cleaves proteins into polypeptides.
 Chemical Digestion in the
Stomach
Two types of cells in the gastric glands of the stomach produce the components of the
gastric juice.

• Parietal cells secrete hydrogen and chloride ions into the lumen. Chloride ions diffuse
into the lumen. It is only in the lumen that hydrogen and chloride ions combine to form
HCl.

• Chief cells release pepsin into the lumen in an inactive form called pepsinogen. HCl
converts pepsinogen to pepsin.
Mucous cells protects
stomach cells and
tissues from self-
digestion.

Cell division adds new

epithelial cell layers
every three days,
replacing cells before
the lining is fully eroded
by the digestive juices.
When the stomach
lining has been
damaged, gastric ulcer
can appear.
Stomach Dynamics
• The coordinated series of muscle contractions and relaxations (churning) mixes
the stomach contents every 20 seconds.
• Churning facilitates chemical digestion by bringing al of the food into contact
with the gastric juices.

Peristaltic contraction – move contents of the stomach into the small intestine
within 2-6 hours after a meal; the sphincter regulates passage into the small
intestine

Heartburn – occurs when chyme is moved back to the lower end of the esophagus
from the stomach
 Digestion in the Small
Intestine
• The small intestine has a small diameter and is considered to be the
alimentary canal’s longest compartment (6 m long in humans). It is the
major organ for digestion and absorption.
Duodenum – chyme from stomach mixes with
digestive juices the accessory glands
Pancreas – the arrival of chyme in duodenum triggers
release of secretin which allows pancreas to secrete
biocarbonate (neutralizes the acidity of chyme and
acts as a chemical digestion in the small intestine)
Trypsin, Chymotrypsin – secreted by pancreas and are
activated in the lumen of the duodenum
 Digestion in the Small
Intestine
• Fats are insoluble in water which makes it a challenge for digestion. They form large
globules that cannot be attacked efficiently by digestive enzymes.

• Fat digestion is facilitated by bile salts, a major

component of bile, which is secreted by the liver
that is stored and concentrated in the gallbladder.
• Bile production contributes to the destruction of
red blood cells that are no longer fully functional.
• Pigments released during red blood cell
disassembly are incorporated into bile pigments
which are eliminated by the body by feces. In some
liver and blood disorders, bile pigments accumulate
in the skin, resulting in a yellowing called jaundice.
Absorption in the Small
Intestine
• The contents of the duodenum move by peristalsis into the jejunum and
ileum, where nutrient absorption occurs across the lining of the intestine.

• Villi – large folds in the lining encircling the intestine;

contains epithelial cells with many microvilli
Processing in the Large
Intestine
• The alimentary canal ends with the large
intestine, which includes the colon, cecum,
and rectum.

Colon – completes the recovery of water

Feces – wastes of the digestive system, which
become increasingly solid as they move along
the colon by peristalsis
Processing in the Large
Intestine
If the lining of the colon is irritated by a viral or
bacterial infection, for instance less water than
normal maybe reabsorbed, it would cause
diarrhea.

Constipation happens when the feces move

along the colon to slowly. Too much water is
reabsorbed and the feces become
compacted.
Processing in the Large
Intestine
The community of bacteria on unabsorbed organic
material in colon contributes to 1/3 the dry weight of
feces.

Many colon bacteria generate gases such as methane

and hydrogen sulfide, the latter of which has an
offensive odor.

These gases and ingested air are expelled through the

anus.

The terminal portion of the large intestine is the rectum,

where the feces are stored until they are eliminated.
ANIMAL NUTRITION
The Digestive System in Mammals