PRUDENCE SCHOOL, DWARKA 16B

Notes
Session 2021-22
Science
Chapter – 2
Nutrition in Animals

Holozoic nutrition- The mode of nutrition in which organisms feed on complex food substances and
break them into simpler and soluble form.

Nutrition in animals takes place in five steps-

1. Ingestion- The process of taking food into the body.

2. Digestion- The process of breaking down of complex substances of food into simpler substances.
Complex substances simpler substances
carbohydrates glucose
fats fatty acids + glycerol
proteins amino acids
3. Absorption- The process in which digested food passes into the blood vessels in the walls of the
intestine.
4. Assimilation – The process of utilisation of absorbed foods by body cells for energy, repairing
and growth.
Absorbed food substances are used to build complex substances required by the body. For eg.
Proteins are required for building muscles and other tissues.
Glucose in the body cells break down with the help of oxygen to release oxygen.
5. Egestion- The process in which the undigested part of food is removed as faeces through anus.

Human digestive system

It comprises of a long tubular structure called Digestive Tract or the Alimentary Canal. It begins at our
mouth (buccal cavity) and ends at the anus. The food gets digested through a complex series of organs
and glands that produce digestive juices which help in digestion of complex substances of food. The
digestive tract and the associated glands together make the digestive system.

1. Mouth or Buccal cavity

• Food is taken into the body through mouth – ingestion.
• Mouth has teeth, tongue and salivary glands. It is also known as Buccal cavity.
a)Teeth (2set) milk teeth- 20
Permanent teeth- 32
Types
i) Incisors- cutting and biting- 4 in each jaw
ii) Canines- tearing- 2 in each jaw
 iii) Premolars- chewing and grinding- 4 in each jaw
iv) Molars- chewing and grinding- 6 in each row

b) Tongue

i) mixes saliva with food

ii)helps in swallowing, tells the taste of the food as it has taste buds.

c) Saliva

i) It is a digestive juice secreted by salivary glands.

ii) It moistens and softens the food.

iii) It helps to digest the starch present in food into sugar.

Saliva
Food sugar

• Digestion starts in buccal cavity.

• The slightly digested food is swallowed by the tongue and goes down into the
oesophagus(food pipe).
Epiglottis is a flap of cartilage which prevents chewed food from going down the wind
pipe to the lungs.

2. Food pipe or Oesophagus

• It is the about 25cm long.
• It carries the slightly digested food from the mouth to the stomach.
• The walls of the oesophagus undergo rhythmic contraction and expansion called
Peristalsis, to force the food particle called, bolus, from the throat into the stomach.

3. Stomach
• It is a thick walled bag in a flattened U-shape.
• It is the widest part of the alimentary canal.
• The inner lining of stomach secrets mucus, hydrochloric acid and gastric juices.
MUCUS- It protects LINING OF THE STOMACHFROM THE ACID.
 HYDOCHLORIC ACID(HCl)- It kills the germs(bacteria)that enter along with the
food. It make the medium in the stomach acidic which is necessary for the action of
digestive juices on proteins in the stomach.
GASTRIC JUICES-It digests proteins present in food into simpler substances (amino
acids).
4. SMALL INTESTINE
• It is highly coiledand is about 7.5 metres long.
• It receives secretions from
i)Liver- it secretes bile juice, which is stored in gall bladder. Bile helps in digestion of
fats.
ii) Pancreas- It secrets pancreatic juice which digests carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
Function of Pancreatic juice
Pancreatic juice
1. Carbohydrates glucose
Pancreatic juice
2. Fats fatty acids+ glycerol

Pancreatic juice
3. Proteins aminoacids

iii) Lower part of small intestine- It secretes Intestinal Juice which completes the
digestion of all components of the food.

• The digestion completes in small intestine

• ABSORPTION
The digested food passes into the blood stream through the walls of small intestine. The
inner walls of small intestine has finger like projections called VILLI, which increases the
surface area of small intestines for faster absorption. The surface of villi absorbs the digested
food materials into blood vessels (capillaries) flowing through them.
 • Assimilation
Blood carries this absorbed food materials to the cells in all parts of the body. In the cells,
food is used for energy, growth and repair. This is called Assimilation.
In the cells,
breaks
Glucose carbon dioxide+ water+ energy
The undigested food and unabsorbed enters into the large intestine.

4. LARGE INTESTINE
• It is about .5 m long and it is quite wide.
• Reabsorption of water and salts from the undigested food takes place here.
• Rectum –The remaining waste passes into the rectum and remains there as semi solid faeces.
5. EGESTION
• The solid waste is removed through anus in the form of faeces

NUTRITION IN HERBIVORES/ RUMINANTS

The cellulose carbohydrate present in the grass can be digested by the action of certain
bacteria which are present only in the stomach of animals called Ruminants (all herbivores).
Herbivores like cows, buffaloes quickly swallow the grass and store it in a part of stomach called
Rumen.
1. The stomach of these animals is large and consists of four chambers-
Rumen Reticulum Omasum Abomasum
2. When cow eats grass while grazing, it does not chew it completely. The cow swallows the
grass quickly with little chewing and stores it in Rumen.
3. The cellulose digesting bacteria present in the Rumen starts to digest cellulose. The grass
is partly digested here. The partially digested food in the Rumen of a cow is called Cud.
4. After sometime the Cud from the Rumen is brought back to the mouth in small amounts
for further chewing. The process by which the cud is brought back from the stomach to
the mouth of the animal and chewed again is called Rumination or Chewing of the cud.
All the animals which chew the cud are called Ruminants.
5. The thoroughly chewed cud is swallowed again and goes into the other chambers of the
stomach and then into the small intestine for complete digestion and absorption.

DIGESTION IN AMOEBA
Amoeba eats microscopic plants and animals which float in water. The mode of nutrition
is HOLOZOIC.
In amoeba , nutrition is carried out in five different steps,
a. Ingestion
b. Digestion
c. Absorption
d. Assimilation
e. Egestion

1. When a food particle comes near Amoeba, it ingests this food particle by using
PSEUDOPODIA around it.
2. The food is digested in the food vacuole by digestive enzymes.
3. The digested food is directly absorbed into the cytoplasm of Amoeba.
4. Food absorbed by Amoeba is used to obtain energy.
5. When sufficient amount of undigested food is collected then its cell membrane
suddenly ruptures and the undigested food is thrown out of teh body.