STRUCTURAL TASK OF NUTRITION PHYSIOLOGY

Gastric Digestion In Vivo and In Vitro: How the Structural

Aspects of Food Influence the Digestion Process

By :

Ayuna Zahra Faatihah B1B015001

Safira Dwi O B1B015002
Dyah Retno Annisa B1B015011

MINISTRY OF RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY, AND HIGHER EDUCATION

JENDERAL SOEDIRMAN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF BIOLOGY
PURWOKERTO

2017
 INTRODUCTION

Digestion is the process of breaking down food by mechanical and

enzymatic action in the alimentary canal into substances that can be used
by the body. Later on, bolus goes through the esophagus, stomach, and
small and large intestines; and ends at the anus. It has a total length of 89
m. The digestive process is start from the oral cavity, mouth. The human
gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is essentially an open-ended tube that
passes through the bodys ventral cavity. It comprises the oral cavity,
the oesophagus, the stomach, the small intestine, including duodenum,
jejunum, and ileum, the large intestine, including ascending, transverse,
and descending colon, rectum, and anus. The motor functions of the
GIT are of two types; mixing movements and propelling movements.
Mixing movements occur when smooth muscles contract rhythmically
in small sections of the tract.
Foods are inherently complex in nature and contain hierarchical
structures that range from the nanoscopic to macroscopic scale.
Considerable effort has been made on understanding the complex
relationship between the dominant underlying structure of foods and
their physical and rheology properties. This has led to the concept of
food structure design as a new way of guiding food product
development.
However, the role of food structure as a variable in nutrient
delivery and in controlling food digestion has generally not received
much attention and has not been considered in the conception of new
products. The mechanisms of food disintegration in the GIT in relation
to food structure remain unclear.
 DISCUSSION

The goal of oral digestion is to produce a mass of chewed food known

as a bolus. The bolus must have a sufficiently small particle size and be
adequately lubricated with saliva so it can be safely swallowed. Esophageal
peristalsis is triggered once a bolus is swallowed. In the esophagus, there
is peristalsis which has function to transport bolus to the stomach. During
esophageal transit, bolus movement is also aided by the simple force of
gravity, as long as the subject is not lying down. After that, food is goes into
the gastric digestion. Gastric digestion is a crucial step in the absorption of
energy and nutrients from foods. After mastication, the majority of the
remaining food breakdown occurs in the gastric environment. In the
stomach, the food is digest by enzyme and mechanically by peristalsis The
stomach acts as a tank, mixer, grinder, and sieve in a complex feedback
control system that simultaneously breaks down ingested foods while
mixing them with gastric acid and digestive enzymes. The rate of food
breakdown in the stomach plays a key role in determining other processes
such as gastric emptying and nutrient absorption, but it is still not fully
understood. Gastric motility parameters will influence the rate of breakdown
of food in the stomach, as they will change the forces, pressures, and
specific flow profiles encountered by food particles. Gastric emptying, or the
rate at which food leaves the stomach, is characterized in terms of both
subject and food characteristics.
After food is emptied from the stomach, it will move into the small
intestine, where the remaining chemical breakdown will occur and the
ingested nutrients will be absorbed. The small intestine is the site for most
digestion and practically all absorption of nutrients. The first part of this
segment is the duodenal loop. The small intestine extends from the pyloric
sphincter to the ileocecal junction and is 67 m long. It ensures that the
partially digested food, or chyme, is broken down into molecules small
enough to be absorbed through the epithelial cells and carried into the
bloodstream. The small intestine is separated into three sections,
duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. The duodenum secretes bicarbonate that
will neutralize gastric acid and provide an appropriate pH for further
enzymatic digestion to occur. The jejunum is approximately 2.5 m in length
and extends from the end of the duodenum to the ileum. The majority of
nutrient absorption occurs in the jejunum. Nutrient absorption is completed
in the ileum. After the small intestine, the food goes into large intestine. The
large intestine extends from the ileocecal junction to the anal canal and is
approximately 1.5 m long. in the large intestine, the water is absorbed. Then
those materials that doesnt needed is excees through anus in the form of
feces (Bornhorst & Singh, 2014).
Antral motility is extensively quantified, and current research is
ongoing to determine the specific flow patterns that are generated after
different meals. The rate of gastric emptying is quantified for meals of
varying composition and calorie content, and in different population groups.
However, comprehensive studies that examine food properties, antral
motility, gastric chyme properties, and perhaps even hormonal responses
after a meal are required to fully explain the complicated feedback and
control mechanisms employed in the body during food digestion.
Even though several studies have examined the relationships
between many food structures, compositions, and levels of food processing
and their associated gastric emptying rate, glycemic response, and starch
digestibility, the underlying mechanisms responsible for the observed
differences have yet to be fully explained. Instead of examining the end-
point measurements (example : gastric emptying, glycemic response, ileal
digestibility), which have already been extensively quantified, a mechanistic
approach needs to be taken to fully understand the role of food physical and
chemical properties in food breakdown, and how these properties change
during digestion. This type of mechanistic approach has been used in
several recent in vitro and in vivo studies; however, more comprehensive
trials must be completed. Only once the actual breakdown mechanisms are
understood and quantified will it be possible to optimize functional food
design to allow for controlled breakdown, nutrient release, and absorption
characteristics.
 CONCLUSION

From the discussion, it can be concluded that the organ that involved
in the digestive process are mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine,
large intestine, and anus. The gastric emptying rate is influenced by both
individual (consumer) characteristics and food properties. However, the
interaction between individual characteristics and food structural properties
is not yet clear.
 REFERENCES

Bornhorst, G.M & Singh, R.P. 2014. Gastric Digestion In Vivo and In Vitro:
How the Structural Aspects of Food Influence the Digestion Process.
Annu. Rev. Food Sci. Technol, 5, pp. 111-132

Singh, H., Ye, A & Ferrua, M.J. 2015. Aspects of Food structures in the
Digestive Tract. Elsevier, 3,pp. 85-93.

Svihus, B. 2014. Function of the Digestive System. Journal Appl.Poult, 23,

pp. 306-314.