Human DIGESTIVE

SYSTEM
 Main Stages of Food
Processing
1. Ingestion - the act of eating or feeding; this is coupled with
the mechanical breakdown of food into smaller pieces
allowing for a greater surface area for chemical digestion.
2. Digestion - breakdown of food into particles, then into nutrient
molecules small enough to be chemically digested by enzymes which
involves breaking of chemical bonds through the addition of water.
3. Absorption - passage of digested nutrients and fluid across the
tube wall and into the body fluids; the cells take up (absorb) small
molecules such as amino acids and simple sugars.
4. Elimination - expulsion of the undigested and unabsorbed
materials from the end of the gut.
organs involved in food
processing in the human
digestive system
 Oral
Cavity
Oral Cavity – it is
where food is initially
chewed into shreds by
the teeth, and mixed
with saliva by the
tongue. Saliva is
secreted into the
mouth by three pairs of
salivary glands located
above the upper jaw
and below the lower
jaw.
 Pharynx
Pharynx –the region in
the back of the throat
that serves as the
entrance to the
esophagus that connects
to the stomach and
(trachea (windpipe) that
serves as airway to the
lungs.) (To block
breathing as food leaves
the pharynx, a flap-like
valve (the epiglottis)
and the vocal cords close
off the trachea.)
Esophagus
Esophagus – connects the
pharynx with the stomach. No
digestion takes place within the
esophagus but the contractions
within its muscular wall propel the
food past a sphincter, into the
stomach. The rhythmic waves of
contraction of the smooth muscle
wall of the esophagus are called
peristaltic contractions or
peristalsis. The esophagus is
about 25 cm (10 in.) long.
 The Stomach
❖ The stomach is a muscular, stretchable
sac located just below the diaphragm. It
has three important functions. First, it
mixes and stores ingested food. Second,
it secretes gastric juice that helps
dissolve and degrade the food,
particularly proteins. Third, it regulates
the passage of food into the small
intestine.
❖ The gastric juice is a combination of HCl
and acid-stable proteases.
❖ The churning action of the stomach
together with the potent acidity of the
gastric juice convert food into a thick,
liquid mixture called chyme.
 Sphincters are circular muscles
that open and close passages in
the body to regulate the flow of
substances, such as bile, urine,
and feces, through the body. 1
Although many are found in the
gastrointestinal (GI) tract, there
are also sphincters in the urinary
tract and blood vessels
 The
Accessory
Digestive
Organ
1.Liver – secretes bile for
emulsifying fats
2.Gallbladder – stores bile
produced by the liver
3.Pancreas – secretes
enzymes that break down
all major food molecules;
secretes buffers against
HCl from the stomach;
secretes the hormone
insulin for control of
glucose metabolism
 liver
❖produces bile
• •bile stored in
gallbladder until
needed
• •breaks up fats
(act like
detergents to
breakup fats)
Bile contains colors from old red blood
cells collected in liver = iron in RBC rusts
& makes feces brown.
gallbladder
❖ Pouch structure located
near the liver which
concentrates and stores
bile
❖ Bile duct a long tube that
carries BILE. The top half
of the common bile duct is
associated with the liver,
while the bottom half of the
common bile duct is
associated with the
pancreas, through which it
passes on its way to the
 bile
❖ Bile emulsifies lipids
(physically breaks apart
FATS)
❖ Bile is a bitter, greenish
yellow alkaline fluid,
stored in the gallbladder
between meals and
upon eating is
discharged into the
duodenum where it aids
the process of
digestion.
 pancreas
❖An organ which secretes both digestive
enzymes (exocrine) and hormones
(endocrine).
❖Pancreatic juice digests all major nutrient
types.
❖Nearly all digestion occurs in the small
intestine & all digestion is completed in the
small intestine.
pancreas
❖Digestive enzymes
✓ digest proteins
(trypsin,
chymotrypsin
✓ digest starch
(amylase)
❖Buffers –
neutralizes acid
from stomach
 The Small Intestine
❖ The small intestine is approximately 6 meters long and is
composed of three regions: the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum.
❖ It is where most enzymatic hydrolysis of the macromolecules from
food occurs. The complete digestion of carbohydrates, fats, and
proteins occurs in the duodenum, about the first 25 cm. of the
small intestine.
❖ The rest of the small intestine is devoted to absorbing water and
the products of digestion into the bloodstream.
❖ Absorption of the end products of digestion takes place in the
ileum, the surface area of which is increased by villi and microvilli.
 The longest part of the large intestine (a tube-like organ
The Large Intestine connected to the small intestine at one end and the anus at
the other). The colon removes water and some nutrients

or Colon and electrolytes from partially digested food.

❖ The large intestine is much shorter than the small intestine, about 1
meter.
❖ It concentrates and stores undigested matter by absorbing mineral ions
and water. A small amount of fluid, sodium, and vitamin K are absorbed
through its walls.
❖ Unlike the small intestine, it does not coil up and does not have villi and
has only one thirtieth of the absorptive surface area of the small
intestine.
❖ Many bacteria live and thrive within the large intestine where they help
process undigested material into the final excretory product, feces.
The Rectum or Anus
❖ The rectum is a short extension of the large intestine
and is the final segment of the digestive tract. It is
where the compacted undigested food from the colon
are pushed via peristaltic contractions.
❖ The distention of the rectum triggers expulsion of
feces.
❖ The anus is the terminal opening of the digestive
system through which feces are expelled.
 MECHANISM OF
ABSORPTION & DIGESTION
❖Carbohydrate digestion begins in the mouth but could
not continue in the stomach due to the acidic pH that
destroys the amylase. It resumes in the small
intestine where the resulting monosaccharides are
absorbed.
❖Proteins are digested in the stomach and small
intestine. Resulting amino acids are absorbed in the
small intestine where they leave the intestinal cell and
enter the blood through a facilitated diffusion carrier in
the plasma membranes on the opposite side.
 MECHANISM OF
ABSORPTION & DIGESTION
❖Fat digestion occurs entirely in the small intestine. Although
fatty acids and monoglycerides enter epithelial cells from the
intestinal lumen, it is triglycerides that are released on the
other side of the cell and carried by blood capillaries to be
transported throughout the body.
❖Most water-soluble vitamins are absorbed by diffusion or
active transport. Fat-soluble vitamins follow the pathway for fat
absorption.
• FAT-In the stomach- fat is separated from other food substances
• In the small intestine- bile emulsification and digestion and absorption happens
• EMULSIFICATION-the process of breaking down fat into smaller globules. (function of BILE)
 HOW ARE NUTRIENTS
DELIVERED INTO THE CELL?
❖ Substances pass through the brush border cells that line the free
surface of each villus by active transport, osmosis, and diffusion
across the lipid bilayer of plasma membranes.
❖ The nutrients then proceed into the internal environment and
pass to the blood which is collected into the hepatic portal vein
leading to the liver.
❖ After flowing through the liver, the blood carrying the nutrients
passes into the hepatic vein which carries the blood back to the
heart to be distributed to the different body tissues.
❖ Hepatic vein sends nutrient-rich blood from the gastrointestinal tract and spleen to the liver, but also delivers toxins to the liver that will be
chemically modified in the process of detoxification.
 REGULATION OF
DIGESTION
❖ The digestive system of animals is regulated in part by
other organ systems, especially the nervous and
endocrine systems.
❖ The nervous system exerts control on the digestive
system in two ways:
✓ regulation of muscular and glandular activity by the
local nerves in the alimentary canal; and
✓ long-distance regulation by the brain.
❖ Hormones regulate the rate of digestion.
 Enzyme Produced In Site of Release pH Level
Carbohydrate
Digestion:
Salivary amylase Salivary glands Mouth Neutral
Pancreatic
Pancreas Small intestine Basic
amylase
Maltase Small intestine Small intestine Basic
Protein Digestion:
Pepsin Gastric glands Stomach Acidic
Trypsin Pancreas Small intestine Basic
Peptidases Small intestine Small intestine Basic
Nucleic Acid
Digestion:
Nuclease Pancreas Small intestine Basic
Nucleosidases Pancreas Small intestine Basic
Fat Digestion:
Lipase Pancreas Small intestine Basic
Thank
you!