LN Digestive System

Digestive System
Digestion – Process by which food is broken down into simple chemicals

that can be absorbed and used by the body.
Alimentary Canal / gut(Digestive Tract) – long tube that stretches from
the mouth to the anus. Digestion takes place in the alimentary canal. The
digestive tract consists of the mouth, the esophagus, the stomach and the
small and large intestines.
Enzymes – Are protein substances which change complex food substances
into simpler chemicals. They speed up chemical reactions without
themselves being used up. They are organic catalysts.
The Main Organs of the Digestive System
The Process of Digestion DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

1. In the Mouth:
 Digestion begins in the mouth when you chew your food.
 Chewing breaks the large pieces into smaller pieces with the teeth.
This is known as mechanical digestion. Just like a blender
 Chewing also moisten the food with saliva and make it easier to
swallow. Saliva contains an enzyme called amylase which breaks
MOUTH down large molecules
OESOPHAGUS STOMACHof starch into smaller
SMALL molecules of
LARGE sugar called
PANCREAS LIVER
INTESTINE INTESTINE
maltose. This is called chemical digestion
 Saliva is produce by the salivary glands
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 The tongue mixes the food with saliva and shape it into a small ball
called bolus.
2. Oesophagus:
When you swallow the food enters a tube called the oesophagus / gullet
which connects the mouth to the stomach. It lies next to the trachea –
airway.
Epiglottis –is a flap of tissue that covers the trachea to prevent food from
going down the trachea. When the food enters the oesophagus the muscles
begin to contract and pushes the food into the stomach. This process is
called peristalsis. Analogy squeezing a tube of toothpaste
3. In the stomach:
 In the stomach both mechanical and chemical digestion takes place
 Mechanical digestion takes place when the stomach walls contract
and churn the food into a thick liquid called chyme.
 Chemical digestion takes place when glands that line the walls
stomach produce gastric juice that break down the molecules
 As the food is churned it is mixed with more gastric juices. Gastric
juice contains Hydrochloric acid and the enzymes pepsin and
rennin
 Hydrochloric acid – kills bacteria in the stomach and helps
enzymes work
 Pepsin – breaks down large molecules of proteins into
smaller molecules
 Rennin – solidifies (coagulates) milk protein. This is found
mainly in babies.
 After about 3 hrs, the food is released through the pyloric
sphincter into the small intestine.
4. In the Small Intestines:
 It is longest section of the digestive tract - about 20 -25 ft long
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 Divided into three segments: the duodenum, jejunum and ileum,
 Duodenum – first part of the small intestine; most of the digestion
takes place here.
Digestive Function Of The Duodenum
 The chyme is mixed with bile, pancreatic juice and intestinal juice
 Bile – is secreted by the liver and stored in the bile duct. It
breaks down large pieces of fat into smaller pieces of fat by a
process calls emulsification.
 Pancreatic Juice – is secreted by the pancreas. It contains
three different types of enzymes
 Trypsin – converts protein into smaller molecules called
peptides
 Amylase - converts starch into maltose
 Lipase – converts lipids (fats and oils) into fatty acids
and glycerol.
 Jejunum - chemical breakdown of the food chyme is completed.
 Intestinal Juice – produced by the small intestine and contain
the following enzymes:
 Peptidases – a mixture of protein digestive enzymes.
 Lipase – which converts any lipids into fatty acid and
glycerol
 Several carbohydrate digestive enzymes such as:
o Maltase – converts maltose into glucose
o Sucrase - converts sucrose to glucose and
fructose
o Lactase – converts lactose to glucose and
galactose
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NB// Glucose, fructose and galactose are all simple
sugars known as monosaccharides.
 Ileum (tripe) – main function is to absorb nutrients. It has
millions of finger-like projections call villi that absorb the nutrients.
The walls are thin (one cell thick) and nutrients are able to pass
through into tiny blood vessels called capillaries.
They are then transported through the blood stream to other cells in
the body.
Analogy – fluffy towel with lots of fibers that absorb water.
Digestion is completed in the ileum.

5. What Processes Take Place in the Large Intestine
 About 4-5 ft long and is made up of the colon and rectum.
 The main function of large intestine is to remove water from
undigested food (waste) before expelling it from the body.
 All undigested food (cellulose, fibres, dead cells, bacteria) and water
are passed into the colon from the small intestine.
 In the colon water and salts are removed from the undigested food
and reabsorbed back into the body.
 When water is removed, a solid waste called faeces remains.
 Faeces move to the rectum where it is collected and then expelled
through the anus by process called egestion
The journey of food through the digestive tract takes approx.
24 hrs.
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DIAGRAM OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
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Digestive System

Digestion – Process by which food is broken down into simple chemicals

The Process of Digestion DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

Digestive Function Of The Duodenum

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