Digestive System Anatomy

Mouth

Food is ingested and the teeth begin mechanical breakdown of food into smaller pieces. tongue pushes food against hard palate (roof of mouth) further physically break food to smaller pieces Salivary glands secrete saliva saliva contains: 1. mucus to make the food slippery for swallowing 2. hydrolytic enzyme salivary amylase - begins the chemical breakdown of starch into maltose (disaccharide) making the food taste sweet and therefore taste better. The tongue pushes food to pharynx which starts the swallowing reflex, food is called a bolus. swallowing reflex: 1. As bolus is swallowed, soft palette pushes upward to close the nasal cavity. 2. Uvula, often mistaken for the tonsils, is a small flap that projects down into the pharynx and acts to kick food away from the nasal cavity. 3. Epiglottis closes entrance to trachea (windpipe) so that food does not enter here.

Esophagus Food enters the esophagus a muscular tube which leads to the stomach. Wave-like contractions (called peristalsis) of the smooth muscle which surrounds the esophagus pushes the food towards the stomach. At entrance to the stomach the cardiac sphincter (a ring of muscle), prevents food from leaving the stomach back into the esophagus. Heartburn occurs when acid from the stomach escapes through the cardiac sphincter into the unprotected esophagus.

Watch the swallowing reflex animation.

Stomach food enters the stomach the gastric glands of the stomach secrete gastric juice Gastric juice contains: 1. hydrochloric acid (HCl) HCl creates acidic environment of stomach (pH = 3), acidic environment kills bacteria in food but its main function is to convert the inactive enzyme pepsinogen into the active enzyme pepsin. 2. mucus coats the stomach wall protecting the cells from HCl 3. pepsinogen an inactive enzyme pepsinogen (an inactive enzyme) + HCl = pepsin Pepsin begins breakdown of protein into peptides. An ulcer is caused by the digestion of proteins in the stomach (gastric) cell membranes, effectively eating a hole in the stomach lining (caused mainly by bacteria, not excess stomach acid) Food leaving stomach called acid chyme - travels out of stomach through pyloric sphincter to S.I.

Small intestine (S.I.) Duodenum - first part of small intestine, where the rest of food is chemically broken down by enzymes and the absorption of nutrients into the blood begins. As acid chyme (containing fats and partially digested protein) enters the small intestine, the liver increases production of bile and causes the release of bile from the gall bladder where bile is stored. Bile enters the duodenum (through a duct (tube)) where it emulsifies fat, causing fat to be broken down into smaller droplets. Emulsification is defined as the process of causing fat to disperse in water. Emulsification increases the surface area of fat (many smaller droplets), therefore increasing the surface area for fat enzymes (lipase) to work. Pancreas secretes pancreatic juice which enters the duodenum through the pancreatic duct. Pancreatic juice contains: Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) Amylase (pancreatic) Lipase Trypsin An easy way to remember the components of pancreatic juice is to remember the acronym SALT SALT = Sodium bicarbonate neutralizes acid chyme to a pH of 8 (slightly basic), provides an appropriate environment (pH) for the pancreatic enzymes, amylase, lipase, and trypsin. Pancreatic amylase continues breakdown of starch to maltose (started in the mouth). Lipase breaks down fats to fatty acids and glycerol (unit molecules) which is helped by the emulsification of fat into smaller droplets by bile. (Bile is not an enzyme) Trypsin continues the breakdown protein into peptides which was started in the stomach. At this stage the only food to be completely broken down are fats.

Intestinal Juice: produced by cells lining the small intestine Includes enzymes needed to finish the breakdown of protein and carbohydrates. These include a group of enzymes called peptidases which breakdown peptides into amino acids. Also, a group of enzymes that breakdown carbohydrates into glucose are found here. The most notable of these is maltase which breaks down maltose into glucose. Lactase is also found here and it breaks down lactose to glucose. Someone who is lactose intolerant cannot produce this protein hormone called lactase. Also includes nucleases to break down nucleic acids to nucleotides

Villi Nutrients are absorbed through the villi, the tiny folds in the surface of small intestine Villi - increase surface area for absorption. Fatty acids and glycerol diffuse into the lacteal, part of the lymphatic system which eventually empties into the blood stream. This prevents the tiny capillaries in the villi from becoming clogged. Glucose and amino acids (as well as vitamins and minerals like calcium and potassium) diffuse into the capillaries (blood vessels) found inside the villi. Glucose and amino acids can also be actively transported into the blood from the small intestine; of course this requires ATP (energy) and allows transport from low to high concentration (against the concentration gradient). This ensures that the blood absorbs as much glucose as possible. Active transport is accomplished by carrier proteins which act like pumps

Colon

The remaining undigested material travel into the colon or large intestine. Here water and salt are absorbed and the feces is compacted and temporarily stored. Helpful bacteria called E. coli are found in the colon where they breakdown some of the undigested material and produce vitamins and amino acids for our use. Finally the undigested material is removed in a process called defecation. Defecation is the removal of undigested material which has never entered the blood; this is technically different from excretion or the removal of waste products from the blood by the kidneys.