TOPIC Nutrition in

Humans
4
Objectives
Candidates should be able to:
(a) describe the functions of main regions of the alimentary canal and the associated organs: mouth,
salivary glands, oesophagus, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, gall bladder, liver, ileum, colon,
rectum, anus, in relation to ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation and egestion of food,
as appropriate
(b) describe peristalsis in terms of rhythmic wave-like contractions of the muscles to mix and propel
the contents of the alimentary canal
(c) describe the functions of enzymes (e.g. amylase, maltase, protease, lipase) in digestion, listing
the substrates and end-products
(d) describe the structure of a villus and its role, including the role of capillaries and lacteals in
absorption
(e) state the function of the hepatic portal vein as the transport of blood rich in absorbed nutrients
from the small intestine to the liver
(f) state the role of the liver in
• carbohydrate metabolism
• fat digestion
• breakdown of red blood cells
• metabolism of amino acids and the formation of urea
• breakdown of alcohol
(g) describe the effects of excessive consumption of alcohol: reduced self-control, depressant, effect
on reaction times, damage to liver and social implications

20 TOPIC 4
4.1 Overview of the digestive system

salivary gland

tongue salivary duct

salivary gland buccal cavity (mouth cavity)
epiglottis pharynx

oesophagus

diaphragm
liver stomach
gall bladder
spleen
bile duct pyloric sphincter
duodenum pancreas
pancreatic duct
colon

jejunum
caecum
appendix ileum
rectum
anus
The human digestive system

1. Human digestion takes place in the mouth, stomach and small intestine.
2. The alimentary canal consists of the mouth, the oesophagus, the stomach,
the small and large intestines and the anus.
3. Other organs associated with digestion include the liver, pancreas, gall bladder
and salivary glands.

Nutrition in Humans 21
 4.2 The mouth
1. Food enters the body through the mouth, or buccal cavity. Physical and
chemical digestion takes place in the mouth. In the mouth:
(a) Teeth start to break the food into smaller pieces. This makes food easier
to swallow and also increases the surface area to volume ratio of the food
for the digestive enzymes to work on more efficiently.
(b) Salivary glands secrete saliva which moistens the food and makes it easier
to swallow. Saliva also contains salivary amylase, an enzyme which breaks
down starch into maltose. The optimum pH of salivary amylase is 7.
(c) The tongue rolls the food into a bolus, which is then swallowed.

4.3 The oesophagus

1. The food passes through the pharynx and enters the oesophagus. The
oesophagus is a muscular tube that leads to the stomach.
2. It is made up of two layers of smooth muscle. The external layer is the
longitudinal muscle and the inner layer is the circular muscle. These muscles
found along much of the entire length of the alimentary canal.
3. These muscles contract and relax alternately to cause wave-like contractions
known as peristalsis.
4. Food moves along the oesophagus due to peristalsis.
5. Digestion of starch by salivary amylase continues in the oesophagus.

4.4 The stomach

1. The food reaches the stomach, which is a muscular bag with elastic walls.
2. The stomach walls form deep pits that contain gastric glands. These glands
secrete mucus which protects the stomach walls. They also secrete gastric
acid and pepsinogen.
3. Peristalsis in the stomach churns the food to break the food up and mix it
thoroughly with gastric juice.
4. Gastric acid is hydrochloric acid with pH 2. Gastric acid
(a) stops the activity of salivary amylase by denaturing it,
(b) changes the inactive form of pepsin, pepsinogen, into the active form,
pepsin, and
(c) kills germs and bacteria.
5. Pepsin is a protease. The optimum pH for pepsin is about 2.

22 TOPIC 4
 6. Food leaves the stomach in small quantities at regular intervals, and enters
the small intestine through the pyloric sphincter as a semi-liquid mass known
as chyme. The pyloric sphincter is a ring of muscle at the base of the stomach
that allows chyme to pass into the small intestine in small amounts at a time.
Allowing the food to pass into the small intestine in small quantities ensures
that the food can be completely digested by the enzymes in the intestines. If
the person had a heavy meal, the contents of the stomach may be emptied
over a period of up to three hours.

4.5 The small intestine

1. The small intestine is divided into three parts: the duodenum, jejunum and
ileum.
2. Food is moved through the small intestine by peristalsis.
3. In the duodenum, chyme from the stomach mixes with digestive juices from
the pancreas, liver, gall bladder and intestinal glands.
4. The pancreas produces pancreatic juice, which is an alkaline solution containing
trypsinogen, pancreatic amylase and pancreatic lipase. Pancreatic juice enters
the duodenum through the pancreatic duct.
5. Intestinal juice contains intestinal lipase, enterokinase, erepsin, maltase, lactase,
sucrase and several other enzymes.
6. All enzymes in the small intestine have an optimum pH under alkaline conditions.
7. Bile, an alkaline greenish-yellow fluid, is produced by the liver and stored in the
gall bladder. It passes into the small intestine through the bile duct. Bile breaks
up large fat droplets into smaller fat droplets in a process called emulsification.
This increases the surface area to volume ratio of the fats for lipases on work
on and speeds up fat digestion.
8. Action of enzymes involved in carbohydrate digestion in the small intestine:
pancreatic
amylase
starch maltose
maltase
maltose 2 molecules of glucose

sucrase
sucrose glucose + fructose
lactase
lactose glucose + galactose

9. Action of enzymes involved in fat digestion in the small intestine:

lipase
fats 3 fatty acids + glycerol

Nutrition in Humans 23
 10. Action of enzymes involved in protein digestion in the small intestine:
enterokinase
trypsinogen trypsin

trypsin
proteins polypeptides
peptidases / erepsin
polypeptides amino acids

Note: Enterokinase converts the inactive form of trypsin, trypsinogen, into

trypsin.
11. Food is completely digested in the small intestine. The jejunum and ileum
function mainly to absorb nutrients and water.
12. Nutrients have to be absorbed into the body from the lumen of the small
intestine. The small intestine is adapted for this role by having:
(a) An inner wall with large circular folds
(b) Finger-like projections on the inner wall called villi
(c) Each epithelial cell on the villi has smaller projections called microvilli
13. These adaptations increase the surface area of the small intestine, resulting
in a larger surface for absorption.
14. The villi have thin walls (one-cell thick) so that food molecules diffuse over a
shorter distance.
15. Within each villus is a network of capillaries and a small vessel called a lacteal.
16. Nutrients are absorbed across the wall of the small intestine and into the
capillaries or lacteal. The lacteal transports fats away from the small intestine
while the capillaries transport sugars and amino acids.

lacteal
capillary
network
villus
epithelium

A villus
17. The transport of food away from the small intestine sets up a concentration
gradient for diffusion.
18. Glucose and amino acids are absorbed by diffusion or active transport depending
on the concentration gradient.
19. Fatty acids and glycerol are absorbed by the epithelial cells of the villi and
recombined within those cells to form fats, which are transported into a lacteal.

24 TOPIC 4
 20. Water is absorbed by passive diffusion throughout the length of the small
intestine and mineral salts are absorbed in the ileum.
21. The food eventually leaves the small intestine and enters the large intestine.

4.6 The large intestine

1. The large intestine or colon is shaped like an inverted U and has the function of
absorbing the remaining water and mineral salts that have not been absorbed
by the small intestine. Note that most of the water that was present in the small
intestine (from liquid in ingested food as well as the water content in intestinal
mucus and digestive juices) had been absorbed by the small intestine.
2. The undigested waste matter moves along the large intestine by peristalsis,
getting progressively drier.
3. The undigested waste matter comprises mainly cellulose, which is indigestible
to humans.
4. The waste matter ends up at the rectum where it is stored before it can be
eliminated from the body through the anus. The elimination of waste material
is called egestion.

4.7 Transport of products of digestion

1. As absorption takes place in the small intestine, the blood in the capillaries of
the villi becomes very rich in simple sugars and amino acids.
2. The blood capillaries of the villi converge into a large blood vessel called the
hepatic portal vein, which leads to the liver.
3. The blood from the small intestine travels to the liver via the hepatic portal
vein. The composition of blood in this vein varies greatly throughout the day
depending on whether absorption of nutrients is occurring in the small intestine.

4.8 Role of the liver in carbohydrate metabolism

1. The liver is involved in carbohydrate metabolism and regulation of blood glucose
concentration.
2. When the glucose level in blood is high, the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas
secrete insulin, which is a hormone that stimulates the liver cells to convert
glucose into glycogen. The liver cells convert excess glucose in the blood from
the hepatic portal vein into glycogen, which is stored in the liver.
3. When the glucose level in blood is low, the islets of Langerhans secrete
glucagon, which is a hormone that stimulates the liver cells to convert stored
glycogen in the liver back into glucose. The glucose is released into the blood
leaving the liver, which supplies glucose to the body cells.

Nutrition in Humans 25
 4.9 Role of the liver in fat metabolism
1. The liver produces bile, an alkaline liquid which helps fat digestion by emulsifying
fats.
2. It oxidises fats to produce energy.
3. It converts excess carbohydrates and proteins to fatty acids and glycerol which
are exported and stored as fatty tissue.

4.10 Role of the liver in breakdown of red blood cells

1. Aging red blood cells are removed by the spleen.
2. Haemoglobin from the red blood cells is brought to the liver, where it is broken
down. The iron from the haemoglobin is stored in the liver while the other
metabolic by-products of the breakdown form bile pigments.

4.11 Role of the liver in protein metabolism

1. The liver is involved in the synthesis of plasma proteins e.g. albumin, and
blood clotting factors e.g. fibrinogen.
2. The liver is responsible for the deamination of excess amino acids, which
refers to the removal of the amino group (–NH2) from an amino acid.
3. The amino group is converted into ammonia, which is toxic to cells, before it is
further converted to urea by enzymes in the liver, and subsequently removed
in urine.
4. The remnants of the amino acid are converted to glucose.

4.12 Role of the liver in detoxification

1. The liver breaks down toxic substances for excretion in urine or bile.
2. It also breaks down alcohol to acetaldehyde through the action of an enzyme
called alcohol dehydrogenase.
3. Acetaldehyde is then converted to harmless acetic acid by acetaldehyde
dehydrogenase.
4. Alcohol irritates oesophageal, stomach and intestinal linings. Excessive alcohol
consumption can lead to inflammation and ulcers.
5. Excessive alcohol consumption can also lead to inflammation, scarring and
destruction of liver cells.
6. The liver cells are replaced with fibrous scar tissue in a disease called cirrhosis
of the liver, leading to loss of liver function.

26 TOPIC 4