BIOLOGY

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
DEFINITION OF DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Some people might be wondering that the food that they eat
where does it goes to, and how does it digest. Do not worry anymore
your question will be answered in this topic. Firstly you should have
an idea of what digestion means, and if not digestion means the
process of breaking down food particles(large molecules of food) into
smaller molecules(absorbable form) so as to be able to be used by
humans to produce energy, for growth and many more, food particles
are broken down by respiration.
Digestive system includes the alimentary canal (tract) and all
other organs of the body, and glands associated with digestion of food
in animals. Different organisms have different alimentary canal, from
simple to complex alimentary canal. However, a plant has no definite
alimentary canal, since they produce their own food by themselves
through photosynthesis.
DEFINITION OF ALIMENTARY CANAL AND
DIGESTION PROCESS
The alimentary canal is a tube or passage in
the body that carries food from the mouth to
the anus. There are sections that are adopted
to deal with the various stages of nutrition.
They are ingestion, digestion, absorption,
assimilation and egestion, respectively.
Digestion process are all the procedures or
stages that foods pass through before being
synthesized into the body.
INGESTION
INGESTION: This is a process whereby food particles are
taken in by a living organism. In other words, ingestion can
be defined as the process of taking food, drugs, etc, into the
body by swallowing. The food particles are broken down
physically using the teeth. As we all know that humans are
omnivores(which means they feed on all types of food,
especially both plants and meat) they ingest both liquid and
solid food substances through their mouth. They either
swallow or masticate(to chew food) the food substance.
While other animals like lions are carnivores(they feed on
only meat), they ingest the meat either by swallowing or
mastication. Animals like sheep are herbivores( they feed
on herbs or plants), they chew the plant before swallowing
it.
DIGESTION
DIGESTION: This is a process in which the food
particles are broken down chemically from the
insoluble form(large molecules) into soluble
form(small molecule). Anabolism occurs in this
process. The major part of the alimentary tract
concerned with digestion is the stomach. It is
because the stomach first store the soluble form of
the food, before distributing it to other part of the
alimentary tract. The stomach is usually enlarged
to hold food for some times, in which the digestive
enzymes like pepsin and rennin act on the food
particles. Note the stomach is a sac-like in shape.
ABSORPTION
ABSORPTION: Is the process of a solid or
liquid substances are being taken in..
Absorption takes place after the food
particles have been digested into the body.
The soluble food substance is pass into the
blood stream from where they are taken into
very part of the body of the organism so as to
be able to carry out our day-to-day activities.
ASSIMILATION
ASSIMILATION: In the body the blood
transports the soluble food substances to
individual cells in the body, so as to aid good
health, release of energy, body building,
repair of tissues. This process is hereby
known as assimilation. Assimilation is relating
with absorption
EGESTION
EGESTION: This is the last stage in the
stages of nutrition. In this stage the metabolic
waste(undigested soluble food substance) are
discharged out of the body through the
rectum in human, which it narrow end is
called the anus. Note the rectum is connected
to the large intestine, which simply means
undigested food goes to the large intestine,
while digested food goes to the small
intestine.
TYPES AND PARTS OF ALIMENTARY CANAL
There are different types of organism, so as a
result of this, there will also be different types of
alimentary canal. For example a mammalian
alimentary canal includes the following parts: mouth,
gullet or oesophagus, small intestine or ileum, large
intestine or colon, caecum and appendix, stomach,
pharynx, rectum and anus. All these parts can be
found in most vertebrates, but not all. Moreover, there
are modification of different parts of the alimentary
canal in various animals. In some animals, there
alimentary canal may be enlarged or reduced, while
some other animals may have some parts to be absent
as shown below.
 DIFFERENT PARTS OF ALIMENTARY CANAL
IN DIFFERENT ANIMALS
Animals Mout Phary Gullet Crop Stoma Small Large Caecu Rectu Anus
h nx ch intesti intesti m m
ne ne
Man prese presen present absent present present present present present present
nt t
Dog prese presen present absent present present present present present present
nt t
Fish prese presen present absent present present Absent absent present present
nt t
Bird prese presen present present present present Absent present present present
nt t
Cow prese presen present absent present present Present present present present
nt t
Lizard prese presen present absent present present Absent present present present
nt t
Rat prese presen present absent present present Present present present present
nt t
Earthwor prese presen present present absent present Absent present present present
m nt t
Toad prese presen present present absent present Absent absent present present
nt t
Cockroac prese presen present present absent present absent present present present
h nt t
CONT. TYPES AND PARTS OF ALIMENTARY
CANAL
Animals have different types of
alimentary canal which vary in size, type of
diet, complexity, nature. The nature of
alimentary canal has some evolutionary trend
as the complexity tends to increase from
simple unicellular organism e.g. protozoa, to
complex multicellular organism e.g.
mammals.
THE ALIMENTARY CANAL AND DIGESTION
PROCESS IN MAN
 The alimentary canal of a man consists of the:
 Mouth: The alimentary canal of a man starts from the
mouth. The mouth contains the teeth, tongue, salivary gland
 The teeth: is use for cutting, grinding and chewing of food,
 The tongue: It helps in the rolling of the food into bolus, it
also aids in the mixing of the food with the saliva or ptyalin,
it also aids the movement of food in the mouth, it helps in
the swallowing of food into the oesophagus or gullet.
 The salivary gland: The salivary gland secrets the saliva
which contains an enzyme named ptyalin. The ptyalin breaks
down starch into maltose which is later swallowed into the
gullet in form of bolus. The saliva serves as solvent for
foods. Note: the saliva is slightly alkaline.
THE OESOPHAGUS OR GULLET
The oesophagus or the gullet is a narrow
tube connected to the mouth through which
food passes through from the mouth to the
stomach.
STOMACH
The stomach is an organ inside the body
where foods goes when you swallow it. The
stomach is sac-like in shape. The stomach
stores food temporarily, it contains two
enzymes rennin which helps to coagulate
milk, and pepsin which helps to convert
protein to polypeptides. The stomach is
connected to the all the alimentary canal of a
man.
DUODENUM
The duodenum is the first part of the small
intestine, next to the stomach. It contains the
pancreas which secretes pancreatic juice
which contains three enzymes namely
Amylase: This coverts starch to maltose.
Lipase: It converts fats and oils to fatty acids
and glycerol.
Trypsin: It converts proteins and peptones to
polypeptides.
SMALL INTESTINE OR ILEUM
The small intestine also known as ileum is
found between the duodenum and the large
intestine. The small intestine helps in the
digestion of food, and also helps in absorption
of digested food. It contains finger-like
structures called villi, which helps to digest
food.
CAECUM AND APPENDIX
The caecum is a small bag, which is part of
the intestine, between the small and the large
intestine. The function of the caecum are not
well known but it usually contains some
bacteria which aid minor digestion of
cellulose. Some vitamins are partially
synthesized in the caecum e.g. vitamin K,
vitamin B complex, vitamin E.
The appendix is a small bag of tissue that is
attached to the large intestine. In human the
appendix, has no clear function.
LARGE INTESTINE OR COLON
The large intestine is the site whereby
undigested food passes into. In the large
intestine, water is absorbed. The absorption
of water concentrates the waste products and
turn them into faeces. The faeces is then
passed into the end of the large intestine
called the rectum and the passed out of the
body through the anus which is connected to
the rectum.
THE RECTUM AND ANUS
The rectum is connected to the anus. It is
also connected to the large intestine. The
rectum receives waste products, that are not
needed in the body from the large intestine,
and then transfers it to the anus. The anus is
the opening in a person’s bottom through
which metabolic waste leaves the body.
DIGESTION IN THE MOUTH AND
STOMACH
 Food that has been taken into the mouth is subjected to cutting, chewing and
grinding with the aid of the teeth which breaks the food substances into smaller
form. Then saliva from the salivary gland mix with the food, with the aid of the
tongue. The saliva contains a certain enzyme named ptyalin. Ptyalin acts on starch, it
converts starch to maltose(a disaccharide sugar). The saliva also contains mucus,
which helps in facilitating the rolling the food into a bolus(a ball) by the tongue. Then
the food is swallowed into the gullet, then down to the stomach by the tongue, by a
peristaltic movement. The mouth opens into a wide but short pharynx which also
receives the openings of the nasal cavity. The pharynx opens into two tubes. The
trachea or windpipe and the oesophagus. The trachea or windpipe leads to the lungs,
while the oesophagus leads to the stomach. Back to the digestion process, during the
swallowing of the bolus(food substance), the opening of the trachea is closed by the
epiglottis, the epiglottis is flap-like in shape. Immediately the food enters the
oesophagus, the muscles in the oesophagus begins to contract(peristalsis). The
contraction of the muscles push the bolus downward which leads to the stomach.
During peristalsis, circular muscles in the oesophagal wall contracts and the gullet
becomes narrow. This squeezes the food to the stomach. The stomach is sac-like with
a muscular wall. The entrance to the stomach is guarded by a circular muscle called
cardiac sphincter, while the exit is also guarded by a circular muscle called pyloric
sphincter. When the muscles contract, the entrance and the exit of the stomach are
closed so that enzymes can act on it e.g. rennin and pepsin. Note when food is being
processed in the stomach, it stays in the stomach for about two to three hours before
being distributed evenly. Dilute hydrochloric acid is also released in the stomach.
DIGESTION IN THE MOUTH AND
STOMACH(CONT.)
Pepsin is a protease (protein-digesting
enzyme) ;it digests proteins to polypeptides,
which are intermediate products in the
digestion of protein. Pepsin works best in an
acidic medium, which helps to kill bacteria
present in food.
Rennin as an enzyme coagulates milk. It does
by acting on the soluble milk protein
(caseinogens), and converting it into an
insoluble form (casein).