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Digestion: a. In mouth:
– Salivary α-amylase (ptyalin) acts briefly on dietary
Digestion is a process involving the hydrolysis of starch (boiled), breaking some α-1,4 glycosidic bonds
large and complex organic molecules of food and yield maltose, maltotriose and α-limit dextrin.
stuffs into smaller and preferably water soluble
molecules which can be easily absorbed by the GI Salivary α-amylase
Starch (boiled) Maltose, maltotriose,
tract for utilization in the body. & Glycogen α-limit Dextrin
Absorption: (branched
oligosaccharide of 4-6
The process by which the digestive end products
glucose units)
pass from the lumen of the GI tract to the
enterocyte and then to the blood is called Remember,
absorption. – Carbohydrates are the only dietary component for
which degradation begins in the mouth.

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– As humans do not posses enzymes capable of

breaking β-1,4 bond, so cellulose in diet remains
undigested.
– Salivary α-amylase (ptyalin) acts only on α-1,4
glycosidic bonds. It can not works on α-1,6 glycosidic
Digestion and absorption bonds.
of Remember, in stomach:
carbohydrates Because of high acidity in stomach salivary α-amylase
becomes inactivated. So carbohydrate digestion
temporarily halts here.

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Digestion of carbohydrates b. In small intestine:

i. Duodenum:
Dietary carbohydrates: –When the acidic contents from stomach reach the
small intestine they are neutralized by bicarbonate
– The principal dietary carbohydrates are- secreted by pancreas.
• Starch, glycogen (Polysaccharides) –Pancreatic α-amylase continues the process of starch
• Lactose, sucrose (Disaccharides) digestion. The resultant products are disaccharides
(maltose, isomaltose) and oligosaccharides.
• Dietary fibres
• Glucose, fructose (Monosaccharides) - minor. Pancreatic α-Amylase
Starch Maltose, maltotriose,
& Glycogen Isomaltose (Dextrin)

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ii. Jejunum: (enzymes of succus entericus) So, in short-

 The final digestive process occur primarily at the Dietary carbohydrates:
mucosal lining of the upper jejunum. - starch, glycogen, sucrose, lactose mainly
 α-limit dextrinases or isomaltase cleaves the (1,6) Digestion of carbohydrates:
bond in dextrin or isomaltase.
In mouth:
 Maltase cleaves maltose and maltotriose producing Salivary α-amylase
Starch (boiled) Maltose, maltotriose,
glucose.
α-limit Dextrin
 Sucrase cleaves sucrose producing glucose and
fructose. In duodenum:
 Lactase cleaves lactose producing glucose and
Pancreatic α-Amylase
galactose. Starch/Glycogen Maltose, maltotriose,
Isomaltose (Dextrin)

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Remember, in small intestine: In jejunum (enzymes of succus entericus):

Both salivary α-amylase and pancreatic α-amylase
act on starch, but the activity of pancreatic α- Maltose
Maltase
Glucose + Glucose
amylase predominates (main).
Both enzymes act only on α-1,4 glycosidic bonds. Maltase
They can not works on α-1,6 glycosidic bonds. Maltotriose Glucose + Glucose + Glucose

α-Limit Dextrinase
α-Limit Dextrin Glucose

Lactase
Lactose (milk sugar) Glucose + Galactose

Sucrase
Sucrose (cane sugar) Glucose + Fructose

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So, end products of carbohydrate digestion are-

Maltase
Maltose Glucose + Glucose • Glucose
• Galactose
Maltase
Maltotriose Glucose + Glucose + Glucose • Fructose

α-Limit Dextrin α-Limit Dextrinase Glucose Remember,

 End products of starch/glycogen digestion is- only
Lactose (milk sugar) Lactase Glucose + Galactose glucose.
 End products of lactose (present in milk) digestion
Sucrase are- glucose and galactose.
Sucrose (cane sugar) Glucose + Fructose
 End products of sucrose (present in table sugar)
digestion are- glucose and fructose.

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Absorption of carbohydrates

The end products of carbohydrate digestion are -

• Glucose
• Galactose
Protein digestion and absorption
• Fructose

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Absorption of carbohydrate: Remember,

(Glucose, Fructose, Galactose, Pentose) • Dietary proteins are denatured on cooking and
therefore easily digested.
Glucose and Galactose: • Proteins are degraded by a class of enzymes namely
Luminal surface to enterocyte – Cotransport with Sodium hydrolases –which specifically cleaved the peptide
by SGLT-1 bonds, hence known as peptidases.
Basolateral surface to blood – Facilitated diffusion • Protease is synonymous with peptidase.
• Proteins are digested by proteolytic enzymes
Fructose:
produced by stomach, pancreas and small intestine.
Facilitated diffusion on both surfaces
(Luminal surface – GLUT 5, Basolateral surface – GLUT 2 ) • In mouth no digestion occurs due to absence of
proteolytic enzymes.
Pentoses:
Simple diffusion

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Absorption Types of proteolytic enzymes (Proteases):

1. Endopeptidases:
They act on internal peptide bonds between specific
amino acids and release peptide fragments.
eg- pepsin, trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastase etc.
2. Exopeptidases:
They act on peptide bonds of terminal amino acids, one
at a time from the end. 2 types-
a. Carboxypeptidases-
They release amino acid from the free carboxyl
terminal end. They are secreted in pancreatic juice.
b. Aminopeptidases-
They release amino acid from the amino terminal
end. They are secreted by the intestinal mucosal
cells.
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Digestion of protein: (Details)

Digestion of protein: (In short)
In stomach:
 In mouth - No digestion
a. Gastric HCl:
 In stomach -
It kills the micro organisms and denatures protein to
Pepsin make them more susceptible for digestion.
Protein Proteoses, Peptones, Polypeptides b. Pepsin:
HCl
It is an endopeptidase released by gastric peptic cells.
 Small intestine -
– It is released as inactive zymogen, pepsinogen which
Trypsin is converted to active pepsin by HCl.
Proteoses & Peptones Polypeptides
Chymotrypsin, – Pepsin preferentially cleaves peptide bonds and
Elastase releases peptides from dietary proteins.

Pepsin
Protein HCl
Proteoses, Peptones, Polypeptides

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c. Rennin:
Carboxypeptidases It is present in infants but absent in adults. It causes
Polypeptides Amino acids curdling of milk by converting milk protein casein into
calcium paracaseinate which can be effectively
Aminopeptidases digested by pepsin.
Polypeptides Dipeptidases
Tripeptides, Dipeptides
Amino acids In small intestine:
a. Activation of zymogen:
Peptidases - Pancreatic enzymes are secreted as zymogens.
Tripeptides, Dipeptides Amino acids
- Enteropeptidase, an enzyme synthesized by intestinal
epithelial cells converts trypsinogen to trypsin and
chymotrypsinogen to chymotrypsin.
- In turn these active forms activate other trypsinogen
and chymotrypsinogen.
- The release of pancreatic zymogen is mediated by
cholecystokinin and secretin.

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Protein absorption
b. Digestion by pancreatic enzymes:
– The endopeptidases – trypsin, chymotrypsin and
elastase are active at neutral pH. Pancreatic HCO3-
creates this favorable pH in the intestine.

Trypsin
Proteoses & Peptones Polypeptides
Chymotrypsin,
Elastase

Carboxypeptidases
Polypeptides Amino acids

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c. Digestion by small intestinal enzymes:

• The luminal surface of the intestinal epithelial cells Absorption of protein (Details):
contain – • The end products of protein digestion are amino acids,
– Aminopeptidases di and tripeptides.
• They cause repeated cleavage of peptide bond of • From lumen to enterocyte:
N-terminal amino acid to produce amino acids and  Free amino acids are absorbed by a Na dependent
smaller peptides. cotransport mechanism. There are at least 5 types of
– Dipeptidases transporters specific for the side chain of amino acids.
• They act on dipeptides to liberate amino acids.  A few amino acids who do not require Na
cotransporter are absorbed by facilitated diffusion.
Aminopeptidases  Di and tripeptides after being absorbed into the
Polypeptides Tripeptides, Dipeptides
Dipeptidases enterocytes hydrolyzed into amino acids.
Amino acids
Peptidases
Tripeptides, Dipeptides Amino acids

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Absorption of protein:

1. From Luminal surface to enterocyte:

L α-Amino acids are absorbed by Cotransport with
Sodium (Na-amino acid co-transport).
2. From Basolateral surface to blood:
L α-Amino acids are absorbed by Facilitated diffusion.
• From enterocyte to blood:
 From the enterocytes the amino acids are
transported by at least 5 transporters to portal
blood and either metabolized by the liver or
released into the general circulation. Two of the
transporters are Na dependant and the remaining
three are not.

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