MOUTH:
Alimentary canal begins with mouth.
Food that we ingest enters into the mouth cavity
or buccal cavity.
Main function is to receive food and start
digestion.
Buccal cavity mainly consist of teeth, tongue and
salivary glands.
TEETH:
Plays a role in mechanical digestion
a.Milk teeth:
•Appears between six or seven months of age.
•Also called temporary or deciduous teeth.
•20 in number-8 incisors, 4 canines and 8 molars.
•Falls between 6 to 12 years of age.
b. Permanent teeth:
•Milk teeth is replaced by permanent teeth and remains
for the rest of your life.
•32 in number-8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars and 12
molars.
Last molar on each side of each jaw appears
generally between 17 to 20 years of age. They are
called Wisdom teeth.
TONGUE:
Thick muscular organ covered with mucous
membrane which keeps it moist all the time.
Taste buds present on tongue helps in
distinguishing various tastes.
It helps moving food in the mouth.
SALIVARY GLANDS:
Three pairs of salivary glands open into the mouth
cavity.
Secrete saliva.
ROLE OF SALIVA:
a. Moisten the ingested food.
b. Digestion of carbohydrates.
c. Acts as a solvent & destroy germs
Food in the mouth:
Teeth masticate food.
Tongue mixes food with saliva produced by
salivary glands. It also helps in swallowing food.
Enzyme salivary amylase (ptyalin) present in
saliva acts on starch (carbohydrate) and breaks it
into a sugar called maltose.
Starch + Salivary amylase → Maltose
This softened, slightly digested food is
called bolus. This is then swallowed.
Mouth cavity leads into the pharynx.
Both digestive and respiratory system cross each
other in the pharynx.
Pharynx is a common passage for food from mouth
and air from nose to the throat.
It is divided into three parts.
1. Upper part: Only air passes.
2. Middle part: Both air and food passes.
3. Lower part: Only food passes.
Food is swallowed into the pharynx. No digestion takes
place here.
Muscular tube like structure about 25 cm long that
moves food from the pharynx to the stomach.
Also called food pipe or gullet.
Food moves forward through oesophagus by a
series of wave like muscular contraction
called peristalsis.
No digestion takes place in oesophagus.
J-shaped muscular bag like organ on the left side of
the abdomen.
It churns foods, mixes it with digestive juices and
passes it on to small intestine for further digestion.
Upper end of stomach is the oesophagus and lower
end is the small intestine.
Stomach wall helps in mechanical digestion.
Inner wall of stomach is lined by millions of gastric
glands that secrete gastric juice.
Gastric juice contains HCl and the enzyme pepsin.
Role of HCl
HCl kills harmful bacteria in the food and creates an
acidic medium for the action of pepsin.
Role of pepsin
Pepsin converts complex proteins to simpler proteins.
Role of mucus
Mucosal lining of the walls of stomach protects them
from the action of HCl.
Muscles of the stomach wall contract and relax to churn
the food and mix it thoroughly with the gastric juice.
This thick paste is called chyme which then moves to
the first part of small intestine-duodenum.
Long coiled tube that lies folded in the abdomen.
Divided into three parts:
Duodenum-anterior part
Jejunum-middle part
Ileum-posterior part
Inner wall of small intestine has numerous finger
like projections called villi.
Villi increases the surface area for absorption of
digested food.
LIVER:
Located at the upper right side of the abdominal
cavity and associated with small intestine.
Largest gland inside our body.
Secretes bile, greenish-yellow fluid that breaks
down large fat globules into small droplets of fat
(Emulsification of fats). This aids in the
chemical digestion of fats.
Liver also helps in regulating blood sugar level
and in controlling the transport and storage of
carbohydrates.
PANCREAS:
Another gland associated with small intestine.
Secretes pancreatic juice.
Pancreatic juice contains enzymes to aid in the
digestion of starch, proteins and fats.
i. Duodenum:
Bile juice produced by liver and stored in the gall
bladder is released into the duodenum.
FUNCTIONS OF BILE JUICE:
a. Bile juice breaks down large fat globules into small
droplets of fat (Emulsification of fats).
b. Bile juice provides an alkaline medium in the
duodenum for the pancreatic enzymes to act.
Pancreas releases pancreatic juice into the duodenum.
ACTION OF PANCREATIC ENZYMES
Complete digestion of fats takes place in the
duodenum. Chyme then passes through the jejunum and
into the ileum.
II. Ileum:
Cells lining ileum secrete intestinal juice containing
enzymes like maltase, sucrase, lactase and peptidase.
ACTION OF INTESTINAL ENZYMES
Complete digestion of food happens in ileum. Nutrients
are absorbed into the blood stream by finger like
projections in the small intestine called villi.
Villi contains blood capillaries and the digested food
passes through the thin walls of these blood capillaries
and enters the blood stream.
Small intestine leads to large intestine.
Wider in diameter but shorter in length.
Three parts:
1. Caecum: pouch like and connects small intestine
to large intestine
2. Colon: largest part which is divided into ascending
colon, transverse colon and descending colon
3. Rectum: Rectum is the lowest part of large
intestine
Anus: Rectum opens to exterior through anus.
Undigested food waste called faeces is expelled out
through anus by the relaxation of sphincter muscles
present in anus
Undigested food moves to the large intestine where
most of the water is absorbed into the blood stream
leaving behind a large mass of undigested food
called faeces.
Faeces which mainly consists of fibre, dead cells,
bacteria and bile moves to the rectum and is passed
out at regular intervals through anus. This process
is called egestion.
part enzyme functions
MOUTH SALIVARY Changes starch to
AMYLASE maltose
STOMACH PEPSIN Changes complex
proteins to simpler
proteins
LIVER NO ENZYME Emulsification of fats
(BILE)
PANCREAS PANCREATIC Changes starch to
AMYLASE maltose and other
sugars
LIPASE Changes fats into fatty
acids and glycerol
TRYPSIN Changes complex
proteins to simpler
proteins
SMALL MALTASE Changes maltose
INTESTINE into glucose
SUCRASE Changes sucrose into
glucose
LACTASE Changes lactose into
glucose
PEPTIDASE Changes simpler proteins
into amino acids
The absorbed nutrients are stored by the body in
various forms and used when needed. This
process is called assimilation.
Excess glucose is converted to glycogen and
stored in the liver. When the body requires it,
liver converts glycogen back into glucose.
Fatty acids either provide energy or are stored
under the skin as fat.
Amino acids are used in the synthesis of proteins
which are used for the growth and repair of body
cells.
Excess amino acids are converted into urea. Urea
is removed from the blood by the kidneys in the
form of urine.
