LEARNING OUTCOMES

To state the substances required by cells to carry out metabolic processes; To list the complex substances that need to be digested; To explain the necessity for digestion of complex substances; To draw and label the human digestive system; To state and describe the functions of the digestive juices and substances that aid the process of digestion.

FOOD DIGESTION
Food such as carbohydrates, proteins & lipids consist of large & complex organic compounds. Need to be broken down into simple substance that can be absorbed by the cells in the body The process of breaking down large & complex substances is called digestion

HUMAN DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

HUMAN DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

Consist of the alimentary canal & digestive glands Alimentary canal : oral cavity, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ileum), large intestine (ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, rectum) Digestive glands : organs/tissues which secrete digestive juices that aid in the process of digestion Digestive juices : saliva, gastric juice, bile, pancreatic juice & intestinal juice

HUMAN DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

DIGESTIVE JUICE
SALIVA

FUNCTIONS
Soften food Digests cooked starch

Kills microorganisms GASTRIC JUICE Contains enzymes which digest proteins Provide an acidic medium needed by the enzymes

BILE

Emulsifies lipids, breaking them into tiny droplets suspended in water Increase the surface area for the action of enzymes

DIGESTIVE JUICE
PANCREATIC JUICE INTESTINAL JUICE

FUNCTIONS
Contain enzymes which digest cooked starch, proteins & lipids Contains enzymes which complete the digestion of proteins & dissaccharides

The Digestion of Carbohydrates, Proteins & Lipids in Humans

In the oral cavity & oesophagus Food chewed by the teeth small pieces : increases the surface area of food for digestive enzymes to work on later 3 pairs of salivary glands secrete saliva into the oral cavity (parotid glands,

sublingual glands, submaxillary glands)

Saliva softens food (easier to swallow)

 Saliva contain enzyme (ptyalin/salivary amylase) able to hydrolyse cooked starch into maltose The tongue moves the food in the oral cavity while it is being chewed, rolling it into a round mass called bolus. The tongue is then raised to swallow the food into the oesophagus.

 Food is moved down the oesophagus by peristalsis (rhythmic contraction & relaxation of the alimentary tube) The cardiac sphincter (a ring of muscles which guard the opening of the stomach) relaxes, food enters the stomach

 The stomach wall contains gastric glands secrete gastric juice (contain HCl acid, rennin & pepsin)

In the Stomach

HCl acid (pH 1),kills m/organisms which may be present in food, provides a suitable medium for action of rennin & pepsin (active in acidic condition)

 Rennin coagulates milk by converting caseinogen (soluble milk protein) into casein (insoluble milk protein) Pepsin hydrolyses proteins into peptones (fragments of protein molecule, one or more coiled polypeptides) & polypeptides. Protein + water peptones + polypeptides
pepsin

The stomach contracts & relaxes rhythmically (peristalsis), helps to break up food physically, helps to mix food with enzymes

 Food digested in the stomach for about 4 hours. Partially digested food leaves the stomach, it is semi-fluid

(chyme)

Chymes enters the duodenum when the pyloric sphincter of stomach relaxes

IN THE DUODENUM
Duodenum receive bile from the gall bladder & pancreatic juice from the pancreas Bile : synthesised in the liver stored in the gall bladder channeled through the bile duct into the duodenum when needed Bile contains bile salt - not contain any enzymes Function in emulsifying lipids, breaking lipids into tiny droplets which are suspended in water to increase the surface area that can be acted by enzymes

 Reducing the surface tension of water so that lipids no longer float on top of water. Pancreatic juice is synthesised by pancreas & channeled to the duodenum via pancreatic duct.

Pancreatic juice : amylase, trypsin, lipase

IN THE DUODENUM
Pancreatic juice is alkaline. Amylase, trypsin & lipase are only active in an alkaline medium Cooked starch + water maltose
amylase

Peptones & + water peptides + polypeptides

trypsin

Fats (or oils) + water fatty acids + glycerol

lipase

In the small intestine

Throughout the wall of the small intestine there are intestinal glands (produce intestinal juice - alkaline) Contains erepsin, maltase, sucrase & lactase
Peptides + water Erepsin/ amino acids peptidase

In the small intestine

Maltose + water maltase glucose
Sucrose + water glucose + fructose
lactase

sucrase

Lactose + water glucose + galactose

LOCATION Oral cavity

DIGESTIVE JUICE Saliva

DIGESTIVE GLAND Salivary gland Gastric gland

ENZYMES Salivary amylase/ ptyalin Rennin Pepsin

BIOCHEMICAL REACTION Cooked starch + water maltose

Gastric juice Stomach HCl acid Liver Bile salt

Caseinogens + water casein Protein + water peptones + polypeptides

Kill pathogens in food Prepared acidic medium for enzyme reaction liver Amylase Emulsifies fats Cooked starch + water maltose Peptones & polypeptides + water peptides Fats + water fatty acid + glycerol Maltose + water glucose Lactose+ water glucose+ galactose Sucrose+ water Glucose + fructose Peptides + water amino acid Fats + water fatty acids + glycerol

Pancreas

Pancreas juice

Pancreas

Trypsin Lipase Maltase Lactase

Small intestine

Intestinal juice

Intestinal glands

Sucrase Erepsin/ peptidase Lipase

Digestive System in Ruminants & Rodents

Ruminants & rodents = herbivores that only feed on plants which contain cellulose

Cellulose can only digested by the enzyme cellulase to glucose A herbivore has a digestive system that is adapted to digest cellulose

Digestive System in Ruminants & Rodents

Certain parts of the alimentary canal contain bacteria & protozoa which secrete the enzyme cellulase to digest the cellulose. In ruminants (cows, sheep, goats & deer), the digestion of cellulose occurs in a complicated stomach while in rodents, the digestion of cellulose occurs in the large caecum

 The digestion of cellulose in the special stomach of the ruminant is as follow :

The stomach of ruminants have four chambers : rumen, reticulum, omasum & abomasum When they eats, it does not chew grass, but swallows it immediately & stores it until its appetite is satisfied. Then the food is returned to the mouth & the cow chews the cud

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF RUMINANTS

 When the food is first swallowed, it passes down the oesophagus into the first chamber called rumen. In the rumen, bacteria & protozoa secrete the enzyme cellulase to hydrolyse the cellulose into glucose.
The food then passes into the second chamber called the reticulum. The bacteria & protozoa in the reticulum continue to hydrolyse the cellulose.

 When the ruminant is ready to chew the cud, the food is returned to the mouth to be chewed again. Movement of the food from the reticulum to the mouth is by antiperistalsis of the oesophagus

 After the food has been chewed, it is again swallowed but this time, it passes into the 3rd chamber called the omasum.
The inner surface of the omasum has folds to act as sieves. Glucose, the product of cellulose digestion, is absorbed & as the food passes into the last chamber called, the abomasum, it is strained.

This is to prevent any big particles from entering the omasum & damaging it.

 The abomasum is the true stomach and is the only chamber which secretes gastric juice for digestion of other food substance.

The Digestion of Cellulose in Rodents

Rodents refer to a group of mammals that comprise rabbits, rats, mice, hamsters, squirrels & porcupines. Rodents have a long & large caecum for the digestion of cellulose In the caecum of rodents, the bacteria & protozoa secrete the enzyme cellulase for the digestion of cellulose

COMPARISON BETWEEN HUMAN, RUMINANTS & RODENTS IN PROCESS OF CELLULOSE DIGESTION

PROBLEMS RELATED TO FOOD DIGESTION

Incomplete digestion of food
Can cause abdominal pain, nausea & vomiting. Several causes for incomplete digestion of food :
Insufficient chewing of food before being swallowed Eating too much, causing the stomach to be distended Eating too much of fatty (oily) & spicy food Insufficient dietary fibres Excessive consumption of alcohol Under secretion of certain digestive enzymes Insufficient bile salts

Bile stones preventing the flow of bile

Bile stones sometimes form in the gall bladder. They are solids consisting of a mixture of bile pigments, cholesterol & calcium salts Bile stones may lodge in the bile duct & prevent the flow of bile to the duodenum. As a result, fats in the food cannot be emulsified into tiny droplets. This reduce the surface area for the action of the enzyme lipase. The digestion of fats is hindered.

Reduced production of specific digestive enzymes

Problems related to food digestion may be caused by too little of a specific digestive enzyme being produced For example, if an organ such as the pancreas is damaged, then the enzymes amylase & trypsin are greatly reduced. As a result, certain subtances in the food cannot be digested & the body cannot obtain enough nutrients.

REMOVAL OF GALLSTONE

EXERCISE 6.4
1. List the complex substances that need to be digested. 2. Explain the necessary for digestion of complex substances. 3. Explain the digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids.