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Digestive System Study Guide

The digestive system is responsible for breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, and eliminating waste through mechanical and chemical processes. It consists of the alimentary canal, including the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, as well as accessory organs like the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. Key functions include digestion, absorption into the bloodstream, and waste elimination, with most absorption occurring in the small intestine via structures called villi.

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14 views8 pages

Digestive System Study Guide

The digestive system is responsible for breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, and eliminating waste through mechanical and chemical processes. It consists of the alimentary canal, including the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, as well as accessory organs like the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. Key functions include digestion, absorption into the bloodstream, and waste elimination, with most absorption occurring in the small intestine via structures called villi.

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Digestive System Study Guide

Biology

New words:
Digestive System: The organ system that breaks down food, absorbs nutrients, and eliminates any
remaining waste.

Mechanical Digestion: The physical breakdown of chunks of food into smaller pieces. Takes place
mostly in the mouth and stomach.

Chemical Digestion: The chemical breakdown of food into nutrient molecules. Occurs mainly in the
small intestine.

Absorption: The process in which substances pass into the bloodstream.

Esophagus: Long tube that pushes food from the pharynx to the stomach by peristalsis.

Stomach: Sac-like organ in which food is further digested.


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Small Intestine: Most absorption of nutrients takes place here. The small intestine consists of three
parts: the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. It also contains villi, which play a key role in absorbing
nutrients.
Large Intestine: Tube that connects the small intestine with the anus. The large intestine consists of
three parts: the cecum, colon, and rectum.
Gallbladder: Small sac under the right lobe of the liver. Stores bile and secretes it into small
intestine.
Pancreas: Helps with the digestion of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
Amylase: An enzyme released by the salivary glands to help break complex carbohydrates into
smaller chains.
Peristalsis: An involuntary muscle contraction that moves and contracts digestive organs in wave-like
motions.
Bile: Aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine.
Functions

The digestive system has three main functions:

 Digestion: breaking down food into components the body can absorb; can
be mechanical or chemical
 Absorption of the substances into the bloodstream, where the substances can then move
throughout the body
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 Elimination of waste
Path of Digestion

The digestive system is made up of two groups of organs: the alimentary canal and the accessory
organs.
The other organs in the digestive system – liver, gall bladder, and pancreas – are called accessory
organs because food does not pass through them.

A. The alimentary canal:

1.Mouth
The digestive system starts from the mouth. When food enters the mouth, matriculation, a type of
mechanical digestion, occurs. From your mouth, amylase and other digestive enzymes begin the
chemical digestion of carbohydrates.

If you smell good food and your mouth starts to water, you’re actually just getting ready for
digestion! Your saliva contains amylase, which will help to start breaking down food.
Path of Digestion
Esophagus

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From the mouth, food then moves down the esophagus via peristalsis. The esophagus doesn’t digest
or break down food; it is merely a pathway to the stomach. This is why it’s important to properly chew
food in the mouth before it enters the esophagus.
When the esophagus enters the stomach, it goes through a structure called the sphincter. The
sphincter opens to allow food through but closes and prevents acidic food from the stomach to enter
the esophagus.
While the stomach has a mucous lining to buffer the acid, the esophagus has no such lining, so any acid
coming in would result in tissue damage. this is why vomiting can be dangerous.

The Stomach
The stomach functions to break down proteins, and it does this both mechanically and chemically.
The churning of the stomach muscles mechanically breakdown the food. At the same time, the food is
mixed in with digestive fluids that contain hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes such as pepsin.
The acid kills bacteria and creates the acidic environment that is needed by the enzymes to work.

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Image credit: Mariana Ruiz Villarreal (LadyofHats),
Public Domain

The Small Intestine


Most chemical digestion and almost all absorption occur in the small intestine. In the first part of the
small intestine, called the duodenum, most of the chemical digestion occurs as many enzymes are
active. Also released into the duodenum is bile, which is made in the liver. Bile neutralizes the acidic

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food coming from the stomach so that the enzymes in the duodenum can work. Bile also breaks up
large chunks of lipids so that enzymes can easily break them down.
The second part of the small intestine, the jejunum, is covered in microscopic projections
called villi. The villi increase the surface area for absorption. The jejunum is responsible for most of
the absorption of nutrients. A few leftover nutrients are then absorbed in the last part of the small
intestine, the ileum.

Figure: A magnified view of villi.

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2.Absorption:
a. The epithelium of each villus is only one cell layer thick (singlecelled layer) and so allows for rapid
absorption of food by facilitated diffusion and active transport.
b. There are microvilli on the surface of the villi to further increase the surface area for absorption.
c. Blood capillaries are very close to the epithelium so the diffusion distance is small.
D A lacteal is a lymphatic vessel at the center of the villus which absorbs fats.

The Large Intestine


The large intestine connects the small intestine to the anus. Like the small intestine, the large
intestine is divided into three parts. Waste from the small intestine passes through the first part,
the cecum, and into the colon, the second part. Since the waste is in its liquid state, water is absorbed
through the colon. The remaining solid waste is called feces. The feces accumulate in the third part,
the rectum. There the feces compact and are eventually released from the rectum by a sphincter.

 New words:

1.Absorbing Nutrients:
 Absorption is the movement of digested food molecules from the digestive system.

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2. Assimilation
 Assimilation is the movement of digested food molecules from the blood
 The molecules pass into the cells of all tissues and organs
o Where they are used, becoming part of the cells.

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