Topic 6.

1 – Digestion and Absorption

There are five stages in the intake and processing of food:

 Ingestion - taking the food into the body - eating it!

Chemical versus Physical Digestion

Physical Digestion involves breaking the food into smaller pieces or liquefying it so that it presents a
larger surface area to volume ratio for the chemical digestion. Examples include: Biting and chewing
by teeth, churning in the stomach and emulsification of fats by bile.

Chemical Digestion involves a chemical breakdown of larger molecules into smaller molecules –
Hydrolysis, which is catalysed by enzymes. Examples:

1. Salivary amylase
 Secreted by the salivary glands in the mouth.
 Optimum pH = 7
 Amylase hydrolyses starch to maltose (a disaccharide)
 The pancreas also produces a similar amylase.
 2. Pepsin
 Secreted by gastric glands in the stomach
 Optimum pH – around pH 2. This pH is achieved by the secretion of HCl in the
stomach.
 Pepsin is a protease – a protein digesting enzyme
 Hydrolyses proteins to peptides (short chains of amino acids).

3. Lipase
 Secreted in the pancreatic juice
 Optimum pH = 7
 Lipase hydrolyses triglycerides to monoglyceride and fatty acids.
 The monoglyceride may also be hydrolysed to release glycerol.

The anatomy of the digestive system

The diagram
above illustrates a cross section through the small intestine,
but it should be noted that the same basic layers exist all the way through the alimentary canal. Of
particular note are the longitudinal and circular muscles that drive the process of peristalsis which is
the waves of muscular contraction that move food through the digestive system.

Stages of digestion

 Mouth – the food is chewed and mixed with saliva. The salivary amylase begins the
hydrolysis of starch in the food. The chewing breaks the food into small pieces increasing
its surface area to volume ratio. The saliva also helps stick the food together into a bolus
and lubricates its passage down the oesophagus.
 Oesophagus – the food is moved down the oesophagus by muscular contractions that
are referred to as peristalsis. The longitudinal and circular muscles in the gut wall work
in an antagonistic manner to move the food. Peristaltic movement is initiated by circular
smooth muscles contracting behind the chewed material to prevent it from moving back
into the mouth, followed by a contraction of longitudinal smooth muscles which pushes
the digested food forward.
 Stomach – the stomach is a muscular bag where the food is stored after swallowing for
between 6 to 8 hours. Gastric juice is mixed with the food that contains Hydrochloric
acid (HCl) and Pepsin, which digests proteins. The acid makes the pH of the stomach very
low (pH 1-2), which is optimum for Pepsin activity. The stomach churns the food and
turns it into a liquid that is called chyme.
 Duodenum – this is the first 30 cm of the small intestine and is the point where much
chemical digestion of the food occurs. This is the point where bile from the gall bladder
is added to the food (to emulsify fats) in addition to pancreatic juice from the pancreas.
The pancreatic juice contains many digestive enzymes including: pancreatic amylase,
lipase and trypsin (a protease similar in action to pepsin). The pancreatic juice also
contains sodium hydrogen carbonate to neutralize the acid from the stomach.
 Ileum – this is also part of the small intestine that has two functions. Firstly there are
enzymes embedded in the walls of the ileum that complete the final stages of digestion.
For example, maltase is the enzyme that hydrolyses maltose to glucose. Secondly, the
ileum is the main site of absorption of the products of digestion. The inner surface of the
ileum has many folds to increase surface area and this inner surface is covered with
many finger-like projections called villi, which further enhance the surface area available
for absorption.
Absorption in the small intestine
Mechanisms of Absorption In this diagram we see a transport mechanism that is
used to move both glucose and amino acids across the
epithelial cells into the capillaries beneath. Glucose –
In the absorption of lipids the fatty acids,
Sodium co-transport refers to the fact that the
monoglycerides and glycerol enter the epithelial cell by
transport protein transports both a sodium ion and a
simple diffusion. Once inside they move to the
glucose (also galactose and amino acids) molecule
endoplasmic reticulum where they are resynthesized
across the first membrane. The sodium – potassium
into triglycerides. These are then packaged into
pump drives this process by pumping sodium ions out
chylomicrons, which are particles composed of
of the cell creating a concentration gradient that
cholesterol, lipoproteins and triglycerides. The
causes sodium ionsleave
chylomicrons to diffuse intobythe
the cell cell. Theand enter the
exocytosis
glucose leaves the
lymphatic cellor
vessel and passes into the
lacteal.
bloodstream via passive diffusion, down a
concentration gradient. In the case of fructose,
another monosaccharide, the absorption mechanism
is simply passive transport.
Assimilation in the Liver

The molecules absorbed into the blood capillaries in the villus (monosaccharides, amino acids,
minerals and water soluble vitamins) all pass to the liver through the hepatic portal vein. In the liver
there is storage and metabolism (assimilation) of the absorbed nutrients. [Ref. D.3]

The Large Intestine

The main part of the large intestine is referred to as the colon and it is in this part of the digestive
system that water is reabsorbed form the indigestible material remaining after absorption.

The digestion of cellulose requires the enzyme cellulase. No mammals are able to produce this
enzyme. Some mammals such as ruminants (e.g. Cows) have bacteria in their stomach that are able
to produce this enzyme and so help the cow with the digestion of cellulose.
Non-ruminants such as the rabbit have an enlarged caecum and appendix where the cellulose-
digesting bacteria reside. This chamber occurs after the small intestine, where most absorption
occurs, and so the rabbits have to re-ingest their faeces to benefit from the digested cellulose.
Humans do not have any bacteria or protoctists present in the gut that produce cellulase and thus
we are unable to digest cellulose. It remains an important component of our diet as fibre helping to
reduce the incidence of bowel cancer.

There are bacteria present in the human large intestine which are able to synthesize biotin (a B
vitamin) and vitamin K. One of the main species present is E.coli. Bacteria comprise 50% of the
faeces produced by a human regardless of the diet (that is why Mum tells you to wash your hands!).

The large intestine forms the faeces, which pass to the rectum and are then passed out of the body
in egestion.