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Process of Digestion

The document summarizes the human digestive system process. Food is broken down mechanically and chemically by enzymes in the mouth, stomach, and small intestine into smaller molecules that can be absorbed. In the mouth, amylase and lipase begin breaking down carbs and fats. The stomach further breaks down food using acid and enzymes before entering the small intestine. In the small intestine, additional enzymes from the pancreas, liver, and gallbladder complete digestion, and nutrients are absorbed through villi into the bloodstream. Undigested waste moves to the large intestine where water is absorbed before excretion.

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Kennard LIONG
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
68 views

Process of Digestion

The document summarizes the human digestive system process. Food is broken down mechanically and chemically by enzymes in the mouth, stomach, and small intestine into smaller molecules that can be absorbed. In the mouth, amylase and lipase begin breaking down carbs and fats. The stomach further breaks down food using acid and enzymes before entering the small intestine. In the small intestine, additional enzymes from the pancreas, liver, and gallbladder complete digestion, and nutrients are absorbed through villi into the bloodstream. Undigested waste moves to the large intestine where water is absorbed before excretion.

Uploaded by

Kennard LIONG
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Food is made out of ​carbs​, f​ ats​ and ​proteins​.

 
 
The Digestion Process: 
 
Mouth  
- Conducts ​mechanical​ digestion, by chewing and ​breaking down​ the food to ​smaller 
pieces. 
- Contains the salivary gland, which produces salivary juices with enzymes: (salivary) 
amylase​ and (salivary) ​lipase​ (there are different types of each enzyme). 
Amylase​ breaks down ​starch ​(CARBOHYDRATE)​ ​ into ​glucose  
Lipase​ breaks down ​lipids​ (FAT) into ​fatty acids​ and ​glycerol 
 
The mouth does the initial digestion, food is swallowed down in a form called the ​bolus​. 

 
 
Esophagus 
- The bolus slides down the ​esophagus t​ o the ​stomach​, acting as a tube. 
- A valve in the esophagus called the LOWER ESOPHAGUS SPHINCTER. Leaking from 
the stomach to this valve causes HEARTBURN. 
 
Stomach  
- The stomach excretes hydrochloric acid (HCL), pepsin and gastric lipase. 
Gastric​ means related to ​stomach 
Pepsin​ ​breaks down ​protein​ structures 
Lipase​ breaks down ​lipids​ into ​fatty acids​ and ​glycerol 
 
Mucus is also released to protect the HCL from corroding our stomach wall. 
 
After going through the stomach, the bolus becomes a less solid, more liquid substance, called 
chyme​. 
 
- The chyme exits the stomach through the ​pyloric​ sphincter.  
 
Small Intestine 
 
Duodenum 
- The first part of the small intestine is called the ​duodenum​. 
- Bile​ ​is secreted and used to digest the food in the duodenum. The ​bile​ is created in the 
liver​ and stored in the ​gallbladder​, then it is secreted into the duodenum,​ coming in 
contact with the food! 
- Bile also makes the food alkaline (compared to the acidity in the stomach) so the 
pancreatic enzymes are ABLE TO REACT. 
Bile breaks down fat. 
 
- The ​PANCREAS ​is also linked to the duodenum, and supplies a juice containing 
(pancreatic) ​amylase​, ​lipase​, ​trypsin​ and c​ hymotrypsin 
Pancreatic, gastric (stomach) and salivary enzymes slightly differ so I have labelled them. 
Once again, the ​amylase​ breaks down ​starch​ (carbs) into ​glucose​, the ​lipase​ breaks down ​lipids 
into ​glycerol​ and ​fatty acids​, and the enzymes ​trypsin​ and ​chymotrypsin​ break down protein. 
 

 
 
The rest of the small intestine spans ~7m. 
Note: Cellulose requires longer to digest so herbivores normally take longer to digest food. 
 
After the duodenum there is the ​jejunum​ and the ​ileum. 
 
In the small intestine, food continues to be broken down into units that can be absorbed into 
the bloodstream and transported to the rest of the body. 
 
CROSS SECTION OF THE SMALL INTESTINE 
 
A cross section of the small intestine would look like this: 
 
 
 
The parts labelled by the lines are called ​villi. ​They have a ​finger-like structure​ which 
maximizes surface area​ for the small intestine to ​absorb nutrients​. ​Microvilli​ are also nested 
on the vili, which are even thinner and have a​ hair-like structure​ to further maximize surface 
area. 
 
In each vili, there are also capillaries, part of the circulatory system to collect the nutrients and 
transfer them into our bloodstream. 
 
 
Large Intestine 
 
The small intestine continues to the large intestine through the​ ileocecal valve. (between the 
ileum and the cecum) 
It has the  
- Cecum (the first section of the large intestine) 
- Ascending colon (goes up) 
- Transverse colon (goes across) 
- Descending colon (goes down) 
- Sigmoid colon (this part forms an S shape at the end of the large intestine.) 
- Rectum 
 

 
 
 
 
The large intestine acts as an area of ​storage ​and ​drying ​as it absorbs all excess water (it's the 
only thing left at this point), turning the byproducts of the small intestine into ​feces​. 
 
After the large intestine, the feces just travel into the anus and we ​excrete​ them. 
 
RECAP: 
 
Mouth​ + Salivary Enzymes - ​Esophagus​ - Lower Esophagus Sphincter - ​Stomach​ - Pyloric 
Sphincter - ​Small intestine​/Duodenum (+bile from liver/gallbladder and pancreatic enzymes 
from pancreas) - Jejunum - Ileum - Ileocecal valve - Cecus (​Large Intestine​ now) - Ascending 
colon - Transverse colon - Descending Colon - Sigmoid colon - Rectum - ​Anus 
 
 

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