Digestive System

• Biomacromolecules (carbohydrates, proteins

etc.) in food cannot be utilized by our body in
their original form.
• They have to be broken down and converted
into simple substances (glucose, amino acids
etc.) in the digestive system.
• During the digestion process,
Biomacromolecules like
• carbohydrates get broken into simple sugars
such as glucose,
• fats into fatty acids and glycerol,
• proteins into amino acids.
• This process of conversion of complex food
substances to simple absorbable forms is called
digestion.
• An enzyme is a biological catalyst and is almost
always a protein. It speeds up the rate of a
specific chemical reaction in the cell. The
enzyme is not destroyed during the reaction
and is used over and over.
• Diastase was the first enzyme to be discovered. It was discovered by the French chemist
Anselme Payen in the year 1833.

• Decades after the diastase enzyme was discovered, Louis Pasteur during his study of
fermentation of sugar to alcohol with the help of yeast, concluded that yeast cells had vital
constituents that facilitated fermentation and called them “Ferments”.

• Wilhelm Kühne, a German physiologist, was the first person to use the term “enzyme” in the
year 1877 to describe the fermentation process.

• Eduard Buchner conducted a series of experiments on yeast extracts at the University of Berlin.
He discovered that the yeast extracts were able to ferment sugar even with the absence of
living yeast cells in the mixture.

• He named the enzyme “zymase” which was responsible for the sucrose fermentation. He
submitted his first paper elaborating on his experiment and its results in the year 1897. He was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in the year 1907, for his cell-free fermentation discovery.
Digestive system
• The digestive system of the human body comprises a group
of organs working together to convert food into energy for
the body.
• Human Digestive System and Nutrition involve the intake of
food by an organism and its utilization for energy. This is a
vital process which helps living beings to obtain their energy
from various sources. The food which we eat undergoes
much processing before the nutrients present in them are
utilized to generate energy. This processing is known as
digestion. Humans and other animals have specialized organs
and systems for this process.
• The digestive system includes the salivary glands, mouth,
oesophagus, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, small
intestine, colon, and rectum.

• Human does not produce its own food like plants and depend
on other plants and animals for food, hence called
Heterotroph.
• The process of digestion involves the following steps, namely:
• Ingestion
• Digestion
• Absorption
• Assimilation
• Defecation

Alimentary Canal
The food passes through a continuous canal called
alimentary canal. The canal can be divided into
various compartments: (1) the buccal cavity, (2)
foodpipe or oesophagus, (3) stomach, (4) small
intestine, (5) large intestine ending in the rectum
and (6) the anus.

Mouth
• The process of taking food, drink or any other substance into the body by swallowing and
absorbing it, is known as Ingestion.
• Food starts its journey from the mouth or the oral cavity.
There are many other organs that contribute to the digestion process,
including teeth, salivary glands, and tongue.
• Teeth are designed for grinding food particles into small pieces and are
moistened with saliva before the tongue pushes the food into the pharynx.
• Teeth
• Incisors – The four front teeth in both the upper and lower jaws are called incisors. ...
• Canines – There are four canines in the oral cavity. ...
• Premolars and Molar – These teeth are located behind and adjacent to the canines and are
designed to crush food.
Tongue
Salivary Gland
• Number of Salivary Gland – 3
• Our mouth has the salivary glands which secrete saliva.
• Around 1.5 litres of saliva is secreted in human on an average day, it is acidic in nature (pH 6.8)
• Enzyme – Ptylin ,Lysozyme and maltose.

Ptyalin:
It begins the digestion process and breaks down carbohydrates into simple sugars.
Lysozyme present in saliva acts as an antibacterial agent that prevents infections.

Foodpipe/Oesophagus

• The oral cavity leads into a short pharynx which

serves as a common passage for food and air.
The esophagus and the trachea (wind pipe)
open into the pharynx.

• A cartilaginous flap called epiglottis prevents

the entry of food into the glottis during
swallowing. [Glottis == opening of the wind
pipe].

• (Peristalsis Movement)

Stomach (अमाशय)
• Also Called Gastric Gland. It generate HCL (PH=1.5)
• The highly acidic environment of the stomach contains
gastric glands which secrete gastric juice, this is a light yellow acidic acid.
• Pepsin and Renin are the enzymes in the gastric juice.
• The inner lining of the stomach secretes mucous, hydrochloric acid and digestive juices.
• The mucous protects the lining of the stomach.
• The acid kills many bacteria that enter along with the food and makes the medium in the
stomach acidic.
• The digestive juices break down the proteins into
simpler substances.
• Pepsin breaks down the protein into peptones and Renin
breaks down the Caseinogen into Casein.
small intestine

• The small intestine is the largest part of the alimentary canal.

• It is about 6.5 meters long in an adult male.
• The glands present in the walls of the small intestine secrete juices.
• The intestine juice contains a variety of enzymes that make complete digestion of complex
carbohydrates into glucose, protein into amino acids, and fat into fatty acids and glycerol.
Glucose, amino acids, fatty acids and glycerol are small, water-soluble particles.

Parts of small Intestine

• Duodenum
• Jejunum
• Ileum
• Largest part of Digestive system is small intestine.(22 feet)

Liver
It generates Bile juice, which is use in
Emulsification.

• The liver is a reddish brown gland situated in the upper part of the abdomen on the right
side.
• It is the largest gland in the body.
• It secretes bile juice that is stored in a sac called the gall bladder.
• The bile plays an important role in the digestion of fats.
• It has two lobes. The hepatic lobules are the structural and functional units of liver
containing hepatic cells.
• The bile secreted by the hepatic cells passes through the hepatic ducts and is stored and
concentrated in a thin muscular sac called the gall bladder.
Pancreas
• The pancreas is a large cream coloured gland located just below the stomach.
• It is a mixed gland of human body, which generates both hormone and enzyme.
• The exocrine portion secretes an alkaline pancreatic juice containing enzymes and the
endocrine portion secretes hormones, insulin and glucagon.
• It plays an essential role in converting the food we eat into fuel for the body’s cell.
• It generates 3 enzymes.
• Lipase
• Trypsin
• Amylase
• Trypsin: It converts the protein and peptone into polypeptides and amino acid.
• Amylase: It converts the starch into soluble sugar.
• Lipase: It converts the emulsified fats into glycerol and fatty acids.

Digestion in Duodenum:

• The duodenum is the first and shortest segment of the small intestine. It receives partially
digested food (known as chyme) from the stomach

• The gall bladder releases bile, which has been produced by the liver, to help further break
fats down into a form that can be absorbed by the intestines.

• As the food reaches the duodenum bile juice from the liver combines with it. The main
function of the bile juice is to convert the acidic food into alkaline, as it is alkaline in nature.

• Pancreatic juice from pancreas combines with food and it contains the following enzymes:

• Trypsin: It converts the protein and peptone into polypeptides and amino acid.
• Amylase: It converts the starch into soluble sugar.
• Lipase: It converts the emulsified fats into glycerol and fatty acids.
Digestion in Small Intestine:
• In the small intestine, intestinal juices secrete and it is alkaline in nature and around 2 litres of
intestinal juice secretes per day.
• Intestinal juice contains the following enzymes:
• Erepsin: It converts the remaining protein and peptone into amino acids.
• Maltase: It converts the maltose into glucose.
• Sucrase: It converts the sucrose into glucose and fructose.
• Lactase: It converts the lactose into glucose and galactose.
• Lipase: It converts the emulsified fats into glycerol and fatty acids.

Ileum

• Largest part of Digestive system.

• Function – Absorption of Digestive Food
• Digested food is absorbed by blood plasma is known as Absorption.
• The absorption of digested foods takes place through small intestine villi which are finger-like
structure extended into the lumen of the small intestine.
• Assimilation:
• Use of absorbed food in the body or movement of digested particles where they are used is
called assimilation
Large Intestine

• The large intestine is wider and shorter than small

intestine. It is about 1.5 metre in length. Its function is
to absorb water and some salts from the undigested
food material.
• It has 3 Parts
1. Caecum
2. Colon
3. Rectum

• Caecum – Absent in human body. It is used for digestion of Cellulose.

• Colon – Absorption of water
• Rectum – Store indigestive food.
• A narrow finger -like tubular projection, the vermiform appendix which is a vestigial organ
• Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria normally live in the intestines of people and animals.
• E. coli synthesize vitamin B1, B2 and K. They live upon the undigested food passing through
caecum and help in better absorption of food. The deficiencies of these vitamins cause many
diseases like beri-beri
• Is E. coli helpful or harmful?
• Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some can cause serious food poisoning.
Disorders of the digestive system:

• Jaundice: The liver is affected, skin and eyes turn yellow due to the deposit of bile pigments.
• Vomiting: It is the ejection of stomach contents through the mouth. This reflex action is
controlled by the vomit centre in the medulla.
• Diarrhoea: The abnormal frequency of bowel movement and increased liquidity of the faecal
discharge is known as diarrhoea. It reduces the absorption of food.
• Constipation: In constipation, the faeces are retained within the rectum as the bowel
movements occur irregularly.
• Indigestion: In this condition, the food is not properly digested leading to a feeling of fullness.
The causes of indigestion are inadequate enzyme secretion, anxiety, food poisoning, over
eating, and spicy food.