Enzyme Food stuff End Point of action

product
Salivary Starch Maltose Mouth
Amylase
Pancreatic Starch Maltose Duodenum
Amylase
Intestinal Starch Maltose Ileum
Amylase
Maltase Maltose Glucose Ileum
Lactase Lactose(milk
Glucose and Ileum
sugar) GA lactose
Sucrase Sucrose Glucose and Ileum
Fructose
Pepsin Protein Polypeptides Stomach
Trypsin Protein Polypeptides Duodenum
Peptidase Polypeptides Amino acids Duodenum
Milk Milk Protein Renin Stomach
Protein Digestive juices and Substance Product
enzymes digested formed
Saliva
Starch Maltose
Amylase
Gastric juice Partly
Protease (pepsin) and Proteins digested
hydrochloric acid proteins
Proteins Peptides and
Pancreatic juice
Fats amino acids
Proteases (trypsin)
emulsified by Fatty acids
Lipases
bile and glycerol
Amylase
Starch Maltose
Peptides Amino acids
Intestinal enzymes
Sucrose Glucose and
Peptidases
(sugar) fructose
Sucrase
Lactose (milk Glucose and
Lactase
sugar) galactose
Maltase
Maltose Glucose
Bile from the liver
Fats globules Fat droplets
Bile salts

PARTS OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

The
digestive
system is a
series of
hollow
organs
joined in a
long,
twisting
tube from
the mouth
to the anus
(see
figure).
Inside this
tube is a
lining
called the
mucosa. In
the mouth,
stomach,
and small
intestine,
the mucosa
contains
tiny glands
that
produce
juices to
help digest
food.

Food
follows the
path:
mouth,
esophagus,
stomach,
small
intestine,
large
intestine,
rectum,
anus.

Two solid
organs, the
liver and
the
 pancreas,
produce
digestive
juices that
reach the
intestine
through
small
tubes. In
addition,
parts of
other organ
systems
(for
instance,
nerves and
blood) play
a major
role in the
digestive
system.

Why is digestion important?

When we eat such things as bread, meat, and vegetables,

they are not in a form that the body can use as
nourishment. Our food and drink must be changed into
smaller molecules of nutrients before they can be
absorbed into the blood and carried to cells throughout the
body. Digestion is the process by which food and drink are
broken down into their smallest parts so that the body can
use them to build and nourish cells and to provide energy.

How is food digested?

Digestion involves the mixing of food, its movement

through the digestive tract, and the chemical breakdown of
the large molecules of food into smaller molecules.
Digestion begins in the mouth, when we chew and
swallow, and is completed in the small intestine. The
chemical process varies somewhat for different kinds of
food.

Movement of Food Through the System

The large, hollow organs of the digestive system contain

muscle that enables their walls to move. The movement of
organ walls can propel food and liquid and also can mix
the contents within each organ. Typical movement of the
esophagus, stomach, and intestine is called peristalsis.
The action of peristalsis looks like an ocean wave moving
through the muscle. The muscle of the organ produces a
narrowing and then propels the narrowed portion slowly
down the length of the organ. These waves of narrowing
push the food and fluid in front of them through each
hollow organ.

The first major muscle movement occurs when food or

liquid is swallowed. Although we are able to start
swallowing by choice, once the swallow begins, it
becomes involuntary and proceeds under the control of
the nerves.

THE PATH OF DIGESTION

Mouth: Mechanical and chemical digestion begin in the

mouth where food is chewed. The glands that act first are
in the mouth—the salivary glands. Saliva produced by
these glands contains an enzyme called ptyalin that
begins to digest the starch from food into smaller
molecules (maltose).

Esophagus: no digestion occurs here. The esophagus is

the organ into which the swallowed food is pushed. It
connects the throat above with the stomach below. At the
junction of the esophagus and stomach, there is a ringlike
valve closing the passage between the two organs.
However, as the food approaches the closed ring, the
surrounding muscles relax and allow the food to pass.

Stomach: The next set of digestive glands is in the

stomach lining. This is where protein begins it digestion.
The stomach lining produce stomach acid (HCl) and an
enzyme called pepsin that digests protein. One of the
unsolved puzzles of the digestive system is why the acid
juice of the stomach does not dissolve the tissue of the
stomach itself. In most people, the stomach mucosa is
able to resist the juice, although food and other tissues of
the body cannot.

The stomach has three mechanical tasks to do. First, the

stomach must store the swallowed food and liquid. This
requires the muscle of the upper part of the stomach to
relax and accept large volumes of swallowed material. The
second job is to mix up the food, liquid, and digestive juice
produced by the stomach. The lower part of the stomach
mixes these materials by its muscle action. The third task
of the stomach is to empty its contents slowly into the
small intestine.

Several factors affect emptying of the stomach, including

the nature of the food (mainly its fat and protein content)
and the degree of muscle action of the emptying stomach
and the next organ to receive the contents (the small
intestine).

Small Intestine: The small intestine is where most

chemical digestion occurs. After the stomach empties the
food and juice mixture into the small intestine, the juices of
two other digestive organs mix with the food to continue
the process of digestion. One of these organs is the
pancreas. It produces a juice that contains a wide array of
enzymes to break down the carbohydrate, fat, and protein
in food. Other enzymes that are active in the process
come from glands in the wall of the intestine or even a part
of that wall.

The liver produces yet another digestive juice—bile. The

bile is stored between meals in the gallbladder. At
mealtime, it is squeezed out of the gallbladder into the bile
ducts to reach the intestine and mix with the fat in our
food. The bile acids dissolve the fat into the watery
contents of the intestine, much like detergents that
dissolve grease from a frying pan. After the fat is
dissolved, it is digested by enzymes from the pancreas
and the lining of the intestine.

The three major classes of nutrients that undergo

digestion in the small intestine are: proteins, lipids
(fats) and carbohydrates

enzyme(s)
starting nutrient end product
responsible

proteins and trypsin and

amino acids
peptides chymotrypsin

Pancreatic
fatty acids and lipase with help
lipids
gylcerol from bile (not an
enzyme)

simple sugars Pancreatic

carbohydrates
(monsacharides) amylase

Digested food broken down in the small intestine is the

size of molecules and can now pass through the villi into
the blood stream through the process of diffusion.

Digested molecules of food, as well as water and minerals

from the diet, are absorbed from the cavity of the upper
small intestine. Most absorbed materials cross the mucosa
into the blood and are carried off in the bloodstream to
other parts of the body for storage or further chemical
change. As already noted, this part of the process varies
with different types of nutrients. Finally, all of the digested
nutrients are absorbed through the intestinal walls. The
waste products of this process include undigested parts of
the food, known as fiber, and older cells that have been
shed from the mucosa.

Large Intestine - Colon -- These materials are propelled

into the colon, where they remain, usually for a day or two.
Its function is to absorb water from the remaining
indigestible food matter, and then to pass useless waste
material from the body. It also compacts feces, and stores
fecal matter in the rectum until it can be discharged via the
 anus in defecation. Dietary fiber, or simply called fiber,
refers to plant cell wall components that are not digestible.

Note: The large intestine houses over 700 species of

bacteria that perform a variety of functions. The large
intestine absorbs some of the products formed by the
bacteria inhabiting this region. Undigested
polysaccharides (fiber) are metabolized to short-chain fatty
acids by bacteria in the large intestine and absorbed by
passive diffusion. Cellulose is not digested at all in the
human.

Bile (no Fats Fat droplets Duodenum

enzymes)
Lipase Fat droplets Fatty acids Duodenum
and Glycerol

Transport of Water and Minerals

Root hairs are out-growths of the epidermal layer (outermost layer) of the roots. The cells of
the root hairs have a semi-permeable membrane which allows water to enter through
osmosis. If you can recall, osmosis is the movement of particles (usually water) from a
higher concentration to a lower concentration across a semi-permeable membrane. Since the
root hairs have a semi-permeable membrane, osmosis results in water entering the root hairs
if the concentration of water is greater in the growth medium (usually soil) than in the root
hairs. This movement continues across the root hairs, into the root cells, and then enters the
xylem. The xylem acts as the vessels inside the plant that carries water and minerals from the
root hairs to the stem and leaves.

The uptake of minerals by the plant is achieved by active transport. Active transport is
needed because the concentration of some minerals may be greater in the root hairs than in
the growth medium. As a result, energy is needed to make minerals travel against their
concentration gradients. These minerals, once up taken by the root hairs, travel to the xylem
as solutes (dissolved particles).

Now that water and minerals have entered the plant via root hairs, how are they forced up the
plant without a pumping mechanism? The answer to that is capillarity. Capillarity may be
accurately defined as the movement of a liquid up a narrow tube against the forces of gravity
due to inter-molecular forces of attraction. For example, when a narrow tube is placed
upright in water, water is seen to force its way up the tubes against gravity. This process is
called capillarity and is due to the cohesive nature of water (ability to stick together).
The tubes of the xylem are narrow and hard (xylem cells are made of lignin which makes it
hard and woody) causing water to rise through capillarity. Water is continuously pulled up
the xylem tubes and carried up and throughout the plant. This process is known as the
transpiration pull. There is a continuous loss of water caused by transpiration. As water is lost
by transpiration, a vacuum is created which effectively pulls the water up the tubes of the
xylem towards the leaves where it is lost.

The Phloem

The phloem does not transport water and minerals, but food. It contains sieve tube elements.
Like xylem, the phloem is made of cells that are joined end to end. However, the end walls
which have not completely been broken down form sieve plates. These plates have small
holes in them and these cells are called sieve tube elements. They have cytoplasm but no
nucleus, and there is no lignin in their walls. Next to each sieve tube element is a companion
cell which has no nucleus. They are called companion cells because they are believed to
supply the sieve tube elements with essential substances.