Digestion and the Digestive System

Nutrients are a combination of small molecules such as minerals and vitamins which do not need to be broken down and large
polymers such as starch which require breakdown into small, soluble molecules to be absorbed and assimilated as well as roughage
which is indigestible.
Food is solid (except milk) and needs to be solubilised by the action of teeth, churning and acid in the stomach to give a large
surface area and liquid medium for the enzymes to react with the polymers.

Digestion is the breakdown of large insoluble molecules to small water-soluble molecules using chemical and mechanical
means.
The significance of digestion is that large, often insoluble polymers (starch, fat, protein) cannot be absorbed into the body unless
they are broken down to their monomer constituents (sugars, fatty acids, amino acids) which are small soluble molecules that can
pass through the gut wall into the blood stream.
Breakdown is by enzymes, the food must therefore be physically manipulated into small pieces in suspension in water to give a
large surface area for digestion to be efficient.
Vitamins, minerals are small soluble molecules so do not need to be digested and are absorbed unaltered.

The stages of digestion (parts of the digestive system are in italics) are:
1. Ingestion – Taking of edible food into the mouth, chewing and swallowing.
 Mouth, salivary glands, oesophagus

2. Digestion - breakdown of polymers into small, soluble molecules by chemical and mechanical means
There are two phases to digestion:
Mechanical
Grinding and crushing to liquefy food by teeth and stomach, movement of food through the gut by
peristalsis.
Chemical
enzymes break down large nutrient molecules to small ones to be absorbed into the blood stream.
  Mouth, stomach, small intestine(duodenum, ileum) digestive glands – salivary, gall bladder and pancreas,

3. Absorption – movement by diffusion and active transport of small, soluble molecules from gut lumen into blood or lymph.
 Small intestine (water in colon)

4. Assimilation – use made of absorbed nutrients that become parts of cells e.g. amino acids for protein synthesis, glucose for
respiration.
 Liver, somatic cells

5. Egestion – removal of undigested wastes through the anus as faeces.

 Rectum, anus

Enzymes are essential to digestion as they catalyse the breakdown of nutrient polymers at a high rate at body temperature and the
optimal pH provided in the sections of the gut.
The different sections of the gut have different functions and their structure is closely related to this function.
The organs of the digestive system are:
1. Mouth (ingestion,digestion)
 Salivary glands produce salivary amylase (starch → maltose) and mucus to aid swallowing.
 Teeth for mastication. Incisors chop food, canines pierce, premolars and molars chew.
 Chewing is the rhythmic contraction of the jaw muscles to open and close the jaw on the food.
 Taste buds to identify food.
 Tongue to manipulate food for chewing and form bolus for swallowing.
 Muscles to contract rhythmically to raise and lower the lower jaw to chew the food.
1. Pharynx
 initiates swallowing (initially a voluntary response)
2. Epiglottis
 closes trachea on swallowing to prevent entry of food into trachea/lungs
3. Oesophagus
 pushes bolus to stomach by peristalsis
4. Stomach (digestion)
 Secretes HCl which kills pathogens, helps solubilise food and activates pepsin
 Pepsin, a protease, digests proteins turning them in to smaller peptides
 Churning produces liquid chyme from solid food
 Sphincter muscle allows small amounts of liquid chyme at a time into the duodenum.
5. Duodenum (digestion)
Chemical digestion is completed due to enzymes secreted by the pancreas

Enzyme Secreted by Substrate End-product Notes

Amylase Salivary glands Starch Maltose (sugar) Also from
Pancreas salivary gland)
Protease Stomach (pepsin) Protein Amino acids
Pancreas
Lipase Pancreas Lipids (fats/oils) Fatty acids and Bile from gall
glycerol bladder
emulsifies fats
(Bases) Pancreas Acid Salts Neutralises
stomach HCl

Bile is manufactured in the liver as a product of the breakdown of old red blood cells, stored in the gall bladder
and released into the duodenum through the bile duct. It contains bile salts to emulsify fats (turns them into small
droplets to aid the action of lipase)
6. Ileum (digestion and absorption)
Chemical digestion continues
 Absorption by villi which (S structure of villus)
a. provide a large surface area for rapid absorption
b. has a thin epithelium for rapid diffusion.
c. has a good blood supply to transport nutrients to liver
d. has a lacteal to absorb fats to prevent high concentrations in blood
 Absorption is by both diffusion (high concentration in gut to lower in blood) and active transport using
energy (especially of glucose).
 Most of the water (about 5 to 10 dm3 per day) is absorbed in the ileum.
10. Caecum
 important in cellulose digestion in herbivores.
9. Colon (absorbtion)
 absorbs water (the remaining amount, about 0.5 dm 3 per day).
10.Rectum (egestion)
 stores faeces.

Peristalsis is the rhythmic contraction of longitudinal and circular smooth muscle that occurs throughout the gut to
push the food through the intestine and keep the intestine wall in close contact with the food. It is aided by
roughage which provides grip on the liquid food.
Secretion of enzymes is controlled by a combination of hormones and nervous reflexes and ensures that gut
secretions are released when material for digestion is in that part of the digestive system.
 Diagrammatic representation of the digestive system
Key
Process
Glands/ Enzymes
Chemical Digestion
INGESTION Transport
MASTICATION

From heart

(PERISTALISIS)

A
B
S
O B
1. STARCH MALTOSE R L
B O
2. MALTOSE GLUCOSE T O
I
D GLANDULAR
O
N TISSUES
IN GUT WALL
DIGESTION ENZYMES, H2O + MUCUS + BILE

3. FATS FATTY ACIDS PANCREAS

GLYCEROL AND
S DIGESTIVE
4. PROTEINS PEPTIDES Y GLANDS
L (E.g. salivary)
S
Y
T
5. PEPTIDES AMINO ACIDS M
E
P
M
6. WATER, MINS, VITAMINS H

LIVER General circulation

EGESTION Assimilation

ENZYMES:-
1. AMALASE
2. MALTASE MINERALS, VITAMINS AND WATER
3. LIPASE are absorbed directly
4. PEPSIN (do not need to be digested)
= PROTEASES
5. PEPTIDASE
 The Liver
is the largest organ in the body (except for the skin). It has many functions including
 storage of glycogen made from glucose absorbed from the blood after digestion (controlled by insulin) and the
breakdown of glycogen to release glucose into the blood when blood glucose levels drop (controlled by glucagon)
which maintains blood glucose at the correct level.
 storage of iron from dietary intake and the breakdown of haemoglobin.
 breakdown of old red blood cells and the haemoglobin they contain
 manufacture of fats from excess dietary sugars
 deamination of amino acids to produce urea which is excreted by the kidney.
 S breakdown of toxins such as drugs, alcohol also excreted by the kidney

S The liver has two vessels which enter it:

1. The hepatic artery which supplies oxygen e.t.c. as all arteries supply their organ
2. The hepatic portal vein which runs direct from the gut to the liver

LIVER
HEPATIC ARTERY
FROM HEART
Filters out and stores nutrients
HEPATIC VEIN
oxygen arriving from gut in Hepatic TO HEART
portal vein Regulated nutrients
HEPATIC PORTAL VEIN
FROM GUT
Absorbed nutrients
(bile)
NUM
DUODE
TO
ER
BLADD
GALL

The nutrients absorbed in the small intestine enter the blood in the gut and are taken in the Hepatic portal vein to
the liver (not to the general circulation). The liver then absorbs many of these nutrients from the blood passing
through it thereby limiting the level of these nutrients in the blood in the general circulation.

Glucose is polymerised into a short-term energy store – glycogen. If the liver is full of glycogen, it converts the
extra carbohydrate into fats which are transported to the fat depots under the skin and around the gut.

Fat is an important long-term energy storing molecule – it produces more energy than carbohydrate and also has
insulating properties.

S Amino acids that are not needed for protein manufacture are deaminated in the liver. The nitrogen part of the
molecule is removed (the amino group), and reacted with carbon dioxide to form urea which is secreted by the
kidney. The remaining part of the amino acid resembles a breakdown product of glucose so can be respired for
energy or converted to fat.

Fat which is manufactured in the liver from ingested fatty acids or excess glucose is taken in the blood to be stored
under the skin. This fat is a long-term energy source and also provides insulation.
Teeth and Dental Hygiene

A human has four types of teeth:

Type Drawing Function

Incisor Cutting
Chopping

Canine Gripping
Tearing

Premolar Grinding

Molar Grinding

Dental hygiene

Your teeth have to last a lifetime and they do not do so for most people.
The two main dangers are:
 Gum/periodontal disease where the gum gradually recedes and the teeth loosen. Can be caused
by infection or the accumulation of plaque at the base of the teeth and between teeth.
 Caries (dental decay) where a build up of foods and bacteria forms a hard layer on the tooth
(plaque). The bacteria in the plaque respire sugars and nutrients in the mouth anaerobically to
form acids that dissolve tooth enamel.
Prevention:
 Cleaning of teeth after meals and before sleeping removes plaque forming mixtures of saliva,
bacteria and foodstuffs.
 Avoidance of sugary foods lessening nutrients for bacteria.
 Use of fluoride washes, toothpastes which strengthen enamel and 7minimize the effect of acid on
enamel.
 Use of floss, water picks to remove plaque.

S Fluoride addition to water supplies reduces caries but there are objections to this practice:
1. Compulsory medication which is not considered ethical by some authorities
2. Fluorine is highly toxic and an error in dosage to the water supply could have serious health
effects such as liver damage.