DIGESTION IN HUMANS

Ingestion: the act of putting food into the mouth

Peristalsis: the wave like contractions of the alimentary canal wall that’s push food along the
alimentary canal

Absorption: the movement of digested food products form the alimentary canal into blood

Assimilation: this is when cells of the body take in the products of digestion from blood for
use inside the cell

Egestion: the act of passing out undigested food remains from the body through the anus

Digestion: the breaking down of large food particles into small food particles. There are 2
types of digestion: Physical/ Mechanical digestion and Chemical digestion

Mechanical digestion: the breaking down of large food particles into small food particles
without changing the chemical composition of the food.

Examples:

 Chewing using teeth

 The churning action of the stomach
 The action of bile on fats

Purpose of mechanical digestion: To make food small

 So that it is easy to swallow

 So that it can move easily down and along the alimentary canal
 To increase the surface area of the food for easy action by enzymes

Chemical digestion: the breaking down of large insoluble food particles into small soluble
food particles using enzymes and changing the composition of the food.

Examples:

 the action of salivary amylase on starch

 the action of pepsin/ trypsin on proteins
 the action of lipase on fats

Purpose of chemical digestion: To make food

 small and soluble

 so that it can be absorbed
Parts of the alimentary canal
Comparing Mechanical and Chemical digestion

Mechanical digestion Chemical digestion

chemical composition of food not changed chemical composition of food changed
enzymes not used enzymes used
food particles does not become soluble food particles become soluble

Mouth

 for ingestion
 Saliva produced by the salivary glands moistens and softens food and makes the small
food particles stick together to form a bolus thus at the same time lubricating the food.
 Physical digestion: food is chewed using teeth to make it small so that it is easy to
swallow and can move easily down and along the alimentary canal and to increase
surface area of the food for easy action by enzymes
 Chemical digestion: salivary amylase produced by salivary glands acts on cooked
starch breaking it down into maltose

Oesophagus

 The food bolus moves down the oesophagus towards the stomach by peristalsis
 Digestion of cooked starch by salivary amylase continues

Stomach

 Mechanical digestion: wave like contractions of stomach walls churns food, breaking
large food particles into a creamy liquid called chyme
 Stomach walls produce hydrochloric acid which:
o Destroys any pathogens taken in with food
o Denatures salivary amylase stopping digestion of cooked starch
o Creates favourable/ optimum acidic (pH) conditions for the enzyme pepsin
o Converts inactive pepsinogen into active enzyme pepsin
o Hydrolyses food (Mechanical digestion)
 Chemical digestion: pepsin acts on proteins/ polypeptides breaking them down into
peptides
 The stomach releases small amounts of chyme into the next part of the alimentary
canal, the duodenum
Small intestines

The small intestines are divided into 2 regions: duodenum and ileum

Duodenum

Small amounts of chyme are released into the duodenum from the stomach.

The pancreas produces pancreatic juice and releases it into the duodenum through the
pancreatic duct.

Pancreatic juice contain sodium hydrogen carbonate and various enzymes.

 Sodium hydrogen carbonate in pancreatic juice neutralises the acidic chyme, creating
favourable/ optimum pH conditions for enzymes from the pancreas.
 Bile produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder is released into the duodenum
through the bile duct.
 Bile emulsifies fats, breaking down large fat drops into small fat droplets. This is
Mechanical digestion.
 Chemical digestion:
o pancreatic amylase acts on starch to form maltose
o maltase acts on maltose to form glucose
o trypsin acts on peptides to form amino acids
o lipase acts on fats to form fatty acids and glycerol

Prevention of self-digestion

The gland cells of the stomach and pancreas make protein-digesting enzymes (proteases) and
yet the proteins of the cells that make these enzymes are not digested.

One reason for this is that the proteases are secreted in an inactive form. Pepsin is produced
as pepsinogen and does not become the active enzyme until it encounters the hydrochloric
acid in the stomach.

The lining of the stomach is protected from the action of pepsin probably by the layer of
mucus.

Similarly, trypsin, one of the proteases from the pancreas, is secreted as the inactive
trypsinogen and is activated by enterokinase, an enzyme secreted by the lining of the
duodenum.

Ileum

 Absorption occurs here: the products of digestion (glucose, amino acids, fatty acids,
glycerol etc.)
 Products of digestion are absorbed by diffusion and active transport
 The ileum is suited for absorption because:
o It is long therefore presents a large surface area for absorption
 o It is coiled therefore presents a large surface area for absorption
o Its internal surface has circular folds with thousands of projections called villi
therefore presenting a large surface area for absorption
o The epithelium of villi is only 1 cell thick hence making absorption fast since
the distance moved by products of digestion is small
o The outer membrane of each epithelial cell has folds called microvilli
therefore presenting a large surface area for absorption
o There is an extensive network of blood capillaries in each villus to carry away
the products of digestion
o Presence of lacteals in each villus for the absorption of fatty acids and glycerol

When absorption takes place the capillaries join up to form the hepatic portal vein which
carries blood rich in products of digestion to the liver.
Large intestines

 The material passing into the large intestine consists of water with undigested matter,
largely cellulose and vegetable fibres (roughage), mucus and dead cells from the
lining of the alimentary canal.
 The large intestine secretes no enzymes but the bacteria in the colon digest part of the
fibre to form fatty acids, which the colon can absorb.
 Bile salts are absorbed and returned to the liver by the blood circulation.

Rectum

 Stores undigested food residue while waiting for egestion through the anus.

Functions of the liver

When absorption takes place the capillaries join up to form the hepatic portal vein which
carries blood rich in products of digestion to the liver.

1. Regulation of blood glucose levels.

Excess glucose is converted to glycogen and stored in the liver cells.
2. Fat metabolism.
3. Deamination.
This is when excess amino acids are broken down by removal of the nitrogen
containing part which is converted into urea. The remaining part of the amino acid is
converted into glycogen and stored.
4. Breakdown of old red blood cells.
5. Production of bile.
6. Storage of minerals e.g. iron
7. Storage of vitamins A, D and B12
8. Detoxification e.g. breakdown of alcohol
Use of digested food

The products of digestion are carried around the body in the blood. From the blood, cells
absorb and use glucose, fats and amino acids. This uptake and use of food is called
assimilation.

 Glucose

During respiration in the cells, glucose is oxidised to carbon dioxide and water. This reaction
provides energy to drive the many chemical processes in the cells, which result in, for
example, the building-up of proteins, contraction of muscles or electrical changes in nerves.

 Fats

These are built into cell membranes and other cell structures. Fats also form an important
source of energy for cell metabolism. Fatty acids produced from stored fats or taken in with
the food, are oxidised in the cells to carbon dioxide and water. This releases energy for
processes such as muscle contraction. Fats can provide twice as much energy as sugars.

 Amino acids

These are absorbed by the cells and built up, with the aid of enzymes, into proteins. Some of
the proteins will become plasma proteins in the blood. Others may form structures such as
cell membranes or they may become enzymes that control the chemical activity within the
cell. Amino acids not needed for making cell proteins are converted by the liver into
glycogen, which can then be used for energy.