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Week 4 Note Digestive System

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24 views6 pages

Week 4 Note Digestive System

Uploaded by

moyintheone
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Week 4 Note

THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Distinguish between digestion and digestive system

2. Identify parts of the alimentary system

3. Discuss the roles they play in digestion.

4. Describe digestion and absorption processes.

INTRODUCTION

Animals feed on already prepared food unlike plants which manufacture their own food.

 The digestive system consist of a long tube from the mouth to the anus with various
organs connected with it.
 The long tube is the alimentary canal and is made up of the following:

1. The mouth

2. The gullet (oesophagus)

3. The stomach

4. The small intestine


5. The large intestine

6. The anus

DIGESTIVE PROCESS IN MAN

Digestion of food takes place in the digestive system, there are four main processes involve with
the intake of food by man. These are ingestion, digestion, absorption and egestion.

 Ingestion: This is the taking in of solid food into the mouth.

 Digestion: This is the breaking down of solid food molecules into smaller ones capable of
being absorbed into the body.
 Absorption: This is the process by which the soluble food from digestion is taking into the
animals body fluid.
 Egestion: This is the process whereby indigested food are removed as faeces through the
anus of the body.

DIGESTION IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE ALIMENTARY CANA

Digestion is the breaking down of complex food into simple forms that can be absorbed into the
blood. Digestion of food occurs in the mouth, stomach, duodenum and small intestine.

MOUTH
 Mouth: Food is mixed with saliva from the salivary glands. Saliva contains the enzyme
ptyalin which starts the digestion of starch, and converts it to maltose. The softened food is
swallowed into the oesophagus (gullet) as a small ball or bolus.

OESOPHAGUS (GULLET)

In the oesophagus the softened food is further pushed down into the stomach by the process of
peristalsis (wave like motion).

STOMACH

The food enters the stomach from the oesophagus, the stomach secretes gastric juice which
contains hydrochloric acid which stops starch digestion enzymes pepsin which begins to digest
protein, and enzyme rennin which coagulates milk in protein.

The semi liquid and partly digested food in the stomach is chyme, and this is passed into the
small section of the small intestine- duodenum. The medium of enzyme action in the stomach is
acidic because it contains hydrochloric acid.
DUODENUM

Pancreas secretes pancreatic juice which contains enzyme lipase, proteinases and carbohydrases
that help to digest fats and oil, protein and carbohydrate in duodenum. Bile from the liver is
stored in the gall bladder, and it enter the duodenum through the bile duct. It emulsifies fats.

SMALL INTESTINE

Enzymes from the pancreas continue the digestion in the small intestine.

Bile released from the gall bladder emulsifies fats. Digestion of food is completed in the small
intestine. The end product of digestion are absorbed into the blood stream in the ileum through
the villi.

The end products of digestion are:

 Amino acid – from protein digestion

 Glucose – from starch digestion

 Fatty acid and glycerol – from fat digestion

 Fatty acid and glycerol are absorbed through the lacteals into the blood stream
LARGE INTESTINE

The large intestine absorbs any water in the waste material. The hard waste (faeces) is passed out
through the anus.

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