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NUTRITION

The document discusses nutrition in single-celled organisms like Amoeba and Paramecium, detailing their methods of food intake and digestion. It then describes the human alimentary canal, including the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, highlighting the processes of digestion and absorption. Key functions of various organs and enzymes involved in digestion are also outlined, emphasizing the role of bile and pancreatic juices in breaking down food.

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3 views2 pages

NUTRITION

The document discusses nutrition in single-celled organisms like Amoeba and Paramecium, detailing their methods of food intake and digestion. It then describes the human alimentary canal, including the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, highlighting the processes of digestion and absorption. Key functions of various organs and enzymes involved in digestion are also outlined, emphasizing the role of bile and pancreatic juices in breaking down food.

Uploaded by

rg9126853
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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NUTRITION

Nutrition in Single-celled organisms

• Amoeba takes in food using temporary finger-like extensions of the cell surface which
fuse over the food particle forming a food-vacuole.
• Inside the food-vacuole, complex substances are broken down into simpler ones which
then diffuse into the cytoplasm. The remaining undigested material is moved to the
surface of the cell and thrown out.

• In Paramoecium, which is also a unicellular organism, the cell has a definite shape and
food is taken in at a specific spot. Food is moved to this spot by the movement of cilia
which cover the entire surface of the cell.

Nutrition in Human Beings


• The alimentary canal is a long tube extending from the mouth to the anus.

Mouth

• It is the opening of the alimentary canal and helps in the ingestion of food.
• The buccal cavity is present behind the mouth, is also commonly referred to as the
mouth.
• The buccal cavity has teeth and a tongue.
• Saliva is secreted by the salivary glands.
• The saliva contains an enzyme called salivary amylase that breaks down starch which is a
complex molecule to give simple sugar.
Oesophagus

• The swallowed food passes into the oesophagus.


• It is a muscular tube, about 25 cm long with a sphincter muscle.
• Its function is to transport food and fluid from the mouth to the stomach.
• The lining of the canal has muscles that contract rhythmically in order to push the food
forward. These peristaltic movements occur all along the gut.
Digestion in the stomach:
• Gastric glands present in the wall of the stomach release hydrochloric acid, an enzyme
called pepsin, and mucus.
• The hydrochloric acid creates an acidic medium that facilitates the action of the enzyme
pepsin.
• The mucus protects the inner lining of the stomach from the action of the acid under
normal conditions.
• Pepsin is a protein-digesting enzyme.
• The exit of food from the stomach is regulated by a sphincter muscle which releases it in
small amounts into the small intestine.

Length of small intestine:


• Herbivores eating grass need a longer small intestine to allow the cellulose to be digested.
• Meat is easier to digest, hence carnivores like tigers have shorter small intestines.
• The small intestine is the site of the complete digestion of carbohydrates, proteins, and
fats.
• It receives the secretions of the liver and pancreas for this purpose.
• The function of Bile juice from the liver.
• The bile juice emulsifies fat by acting on large fat globules to break them into smaller
globules. This increases the efficiency of pancreatic enzymes.
• The food entering the small intestine is acidic. It is made alkaline by the action of bile
juice so as to facilitate the action of pancreatic enzymes.
• The function of pancreatic juice from the pancreas:
• Pancreatic juice contains enzymes like Trypsin for digesting proteins and Lipase for
breaking down emulsified fats.
• The walls of the small intestine contain glands that secrete intestinal juice.
• The enzymes present in it finally convert the Proteins to amino acids,
• Complex carbohydrates into glucose and Fats into fatty acids and glycerol.
• The inner lining of the small intestine has numerous finger-like projections called villi.
Functions of Villi:
• Increases the surface area for absorption.
• The villi are richly supplied with blood vessels that transport the absorbed food to each
and every cell of the body.

Large Intestine

• Undigested food enters the large intestine.

• The colon is responsible for the absorption of water and salts, whereas the rectum stores
the undigested food temporarily before defaecation.
• Rectum opens to the outside by the anus.
• The anus has internal and external anal sphincters.

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