THE DIGESTIVE

SYSTEM
 Without food, water and oxygen, human
beings could not survive.
 The digestive system is a set of organs which
change what we eat into substances that can
be used in the body.
 These substances can be used for energy,
growth and repair.
 THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

 The alimentary canal is a tube that runs from

the mouth to the anus.
 It is composed of the mouth, esophagus,
stomach, small intestine and the large
intestine
 As food passes through the alimentary canal, it is
changed and the nourishment is taken into the
blood
 Waste passes out the end of the canal
 Certain organs and glands add juices to the canal
at various points
 Mouth
1. Chemical digestion (amylase
Esophagus converts starch to maltose)
2. Physical digestion (teeth break
Connects mouth food down into smaller
to stomach pieces)
Stomach
Liver
1. Holds the food for a while
Produces bile for
2. Physical digestion (food is
the digestion of churned and mixed)
fats 3. Chemical digestion (assisted
by HCl)
Small intestine
Gall bladder 1. Chemical digestion
Stores bile
2. Absorption of
nutrients into blood
Pancreas
Large intestine
Produces digestive
juices (colon)
Appendix 1. Elimination of waste
2. Absorption of water

Anus Rectum
Stores faeces
 Food can be broken down (digested) in one of
two ways:
1. Physical Digestion
This is where large pieces of food are broken
down into smaller pieces of the same food
2. Chemical Digestion
This is where food is broken down into a
different substance that can easily pass into
the blood
Mouth

 The food is broken down by the teeth and

mixed with saliva.
 Saliva is excreted by three pairs of glands:
• The parotid gland (below the ear)
• The submandibular (under the tongue)
• The sublingual (under the tongue)
 Saliva contains water, mucus and the
enzyme salivary amylase.
Functions of Saliva

 It lubricates food with mucus, making it

easier to swallow.
 It contains the enzyme salivary amylase,
which acts on cooked starch turning some of
it into maltose.
 It keeps the mouth and teeth clean.
 The ball of food that leaves the mouth is
known as a bolus.
 Functions of the Tongue

 Taste: it is covered with thousands of taste buds. These

are sensitive to salt, sweet, sour and bitter chemicals
in food and drink.
They help us enjoy food and drink and warn us when food,
drink are off or inedible.
 Chewing: the tongue aids chewing by moving the food
around the mouth, pushing it between the teeth and
covering it with saliva, which contains enzymes that start
the digestive process.
The food is turned into a partially digested mass known as
a bolus.
 Swallowing: when the food is ready to travel to the
stomach, the tongue pushes it to the back of the mouth.
Tongue Taste Centres
Epiglottis

Bitter
Papillae
Taste Buds
Sour

Salt

Sweet
 Esophagus

 The food passes into the pharynx (a muscular

tube behind the mouth) and down the
oesophagus.
 The epiglottis a small flap of cartilage blocks
the entrance to the larynx, this stops the
food going down the wrong way and prevents
choking.
 Structure of the Esophagus
& Functions

 It is a muscular tube.
 It leads from the pharynx to the stomach.
Function
 To carry chewed food from the pharynx to the
stomach.
 Food moves along it by a muscular contraction
known as peristalsis.
 The muscle fibres contract and relax which acts like a
wave on the tube, pushing the bolus forward.
 It’s lining secretes mucus to lubricate the passage of
food.
The Stomach

Esophagus
Cardiac Sphincter

Pyloric Sphincter

Duodenum

Body of Stomach
 Stomach Structure

 It is a J-shaped, elastic organ.

 Food enters it from the esophagus through the
cardiac sphincter. Food found in the stomach is
called chyme.
 The cardiac sphincter, is a valve that stops back flow
of the stomach`s contents.
 Food leaves the stomach through the pyloric
sphincter into the duodenum (first part of the small
intestine).
 The walls of the stomach is made up of layers of
muscle.
 It has an inner mucous membrane.
 This membrane has lots of folds.
 When the stomach is full these folds stretch out,
enabling it to expand, then they contract when the
stomach empties.
Functions of The
Stomach

 It digests protein through the action of

enzymes.
 It churns food with the gastric juices.
 It helps lubricate the food by producing
mucus.
 It absorbs alcohol.
 It kills bacteria by producing hydrochloric
acid.
Gastric Juices

 Hydrochloric acid neutralises bacteria and activates

pepsin.
 Rennin is an enzyme that curdles milk protein in
infants.
 Pepsin is an enzyme that breaks down proteins into
peptones.
Structure of the Small Intestine

 It is seven metres long.

 It is divided into three parts:
 The duodenum
 The jejunum
 The ileum
Structure of the Small Intestine

 The walls has four layers:

 A muscular layer
 A layer containing blood vessels, lymph vessels,
and nerves.
 A submucous layer,
 A mucous layer.
 The inner wall is covered in villi, tiny hair like
projections which increase the surface area for
absorption.
 Each villi contain blood vessels and lymph vessels.
Functions of The Small Intestine
Digestion

 Pancreatic juice is secreted into the duodenum

and contains the following enzymes:
 Trypsin: converts proteins into shorter chains.
 Lipase: converts fats into fatty acids and
glycerol.
 Amylase: converts starch into disaccharides.
Functions of The Small Intestine
Digestion

 Bile: emulsifies fats (breaks them into smaller

droplets).
 Intestinal Juices have the following enzymes:
 Maltase, sucrase, lactase: change
disaccharides into monosaccharides.
 Peptidase: changes polypeptides into amino
acids.
Absorption

 Digested food is absorbed through the villi walls.

 Fats, fatty acids and glycerol are passed into the
lymph system.
 Amino acids and sugars pass along the portal
vein to the liver.
 Ascending Transverse
Descending
Colon Colon
Colon

Caecum

Anus Rectum
Apendix
What is the Large Intestine

 It deals with waste.

 It is about 1.5m long.
 It consists of the following:
 The caecum: a small pouch; the ileum empties its
contents into the caecum through the ileo-caecal valve.
 The colon: ascending, transverse, descending colon.
 The appendix: narrow tube attached to the caecum.
 The rectum.
 The anus
Functions

 Whatever remains of the food, is passed into the

large intestine
 To reabsorb water and vitamins left in digestive
waste.
 It secretes mucus to help the movement of faeces.
Functions

 Short term storage of faeces in the rectum.

 Many bacteria live in the large intestine, they are
harmless in the colon and may be useful e.g.
produce Vitamin K.
 Defecation: peristalsis pushes waste along the
colon and then it is passed out of the body.
 ENZYMES

 An enzyme is a biological catalyst

 A catalyst speeds up chemical reactions
 Enzymes speed up biological reactions
 All chemical reactions that take place in living
systems require the action of an enzyme
ENZYMES

 Digestive enzymes break food down

into smaller, more soluble substances

 This allows the food to be absorbed

into the blood
ENZYMES

 An example of a digestive enzyme is

amylase

 Amylase is present in saliva

 Amylase chemically breaks down starch

STAGES OF NUTRITION

There are four stages in human nutrition:

1. Eating (also called “ingestion”)
2. Digestion
3. Absorption of digested food into the blood
4. Elimination of undigested food (also
called “egestion”)
STAGES OF NUTRITION

 Digestion changes food into a form that can

enter the blood
 Physical (mechanical) digestion breaks food
down into smaller pieces
 Chemical digestion breaks food down into
different, more soluble substances
 The contents of the alimentary canal
are pushed along by a rhythmic
pulsing of the muscles of the
intestines

 This is known as peristalsis