Digestive

System
 DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
• Is a group of organs working together to
covert food into energy and basic nutrients to
feed the entire body.
 DIGESTIVE SYSTEM MAJOR
FUNCTIONS
• Ingestion
– The oral cavity allows food to enter the digestive tract and
have mastication (chewing) occurs, and the resulting food
bolus is swallowed.
• Digestion
• Mechanical digestion
– Muscular movement of digestive tract (mainly in the oral
cavity and stomach) physically break down food into smaller
particles.
• Chemical digestion
– Hydrolysis reactions aided by enzymes (mainly in the
stomach and small intestine) chemically break down food
particles into nutrient molecules, small enough to be
absorbed.
• Secretion
• Enzymes and digestive fluids
secreted by the digestive
tract and its accessory
organs facilitate chemical
digestion.

• Absorption
• Passage of the end-product
(nutrients) of chemical
digestion from the digestive
tract into blood or lymph for
distribution to tissue cells.

• Elimination or
Excretion
• Undigested material will be
released through the rectum
and anus by defecation.
 ORGANIZATION OF DIGESTIVE
SYSTEM
• Gastrointestinal tract or GI tract
– Is a continuous tube extending through the ventral
cavity from the mouth to the anus ---- it consists of
the mouth, oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus,
stomach , small intestine, large intestine, rectum
and anus.

• Accessory structures
– Include the teeth, tongue, salivary glands, liver,
gall bladder, and pancreas.
 MUSCULAR MOVEMENT OF GI
TRACT
• Peristalsis
– Wavelike movement that occurs from the
oropharynx to the rectum, allowing GI tract to
push food particles toward the anus.
• Mixing
– Mixing motion in the oral cavity and stomach that
allows the GI tract to repeatedly break down food
into smaller particles, using mechanical digestion.
• Segmentation
– Regions of the small intestine contracting and
relaxing independently allowing the small
intestine to digestive and absorb more efficiently.
Parts of Digestive
System
 MOUTH
• The anterior opening of the alimentary canal.
• It leads to a oral cavity, where teeth, tongue
and salivary glands are present.
• Here, ingestion, mastication and swallowing
of food occur.
• 4 types of teeth (help in chewing of food):
• Incisors (for cutting)
• Canines (for tearing)
• Premolars (for crushing)
• Molars (for grinding)
 SALIVARY GLANDS
• 3 pairs of salivary glands namely,
Parotid Gland, Submandibular Gland,
and Sublingual Gland.
• Saliva helps moisten the food during
mastication, dissolve the food in
forming the bolus, and help cleanse the
teeth.
 PHARYNX
• Is a funnel-shaped tube connected to
the posterior end of the mouth.
• It is responsible for the passing of
masses of chewed food from the mouth
to esophagus.
 ESOPHAGUS
• Is a muscular tube connecting the
pharynx to the stomach that is part of
the upper GI tract.
• It carriers swallowed masses of chewed
food along its length.
 STOMACH
• Is a muscular sac that is located on the left
side of the abdominal cavity, just inferior to
the diaphragm.
• Acts as a storage tank for food and also a
mixer and grinder.
• It secretes strong acids and powerful
enzymes that help in the process of breaking
down of food.
 PANCREAS
• Secretes digestive enzymes into the
duodenum, the first segment of the
small intestine. These enzymes break
down, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.
• Also makes insulin, secreting it directly
in the bloodstream.
INSULIN is the chief
hormone for
metabolizing sugar.
 LIVER
• A roughly triangular accessory organ of the
digestive system located to the right of the
stomach, just inferior to the diaphragm and
superior to the small intestine.
• It weighs about 3 pounds and is the second
largest organ in the body.
• Is the production of the bile and its secretion
into the small intestine.
 GALL BLADDER
• Is a small, pear-shaped organ located
just posterior to the liver.
• Is used to the store and recycle excess
bile from the small intestine so that it
can be reused for the digestion of the
subsequent meals.
 SMALL INTESTINE
• Is along, thin tube about 1-inch in diameter
and about 10 feet long that is part of the
lower GI tract.
• The entire small intestine is coiled like a hose
and the inside surface is full of many ridges
and folds.
• These folds are used to maximize the
digestion of food and absorption of nutrients.
• 3 segments of small intestine namely
duodenum, jejunum, and ileum.
 LARGE INTESTINE
• Long, thick tube about 2.5 inches in diameter
about 5 feet long.
• It is located just inferior to the stomach and
wraps around the superior and lateral border
of the small intestine.
• Large intestine absorbs water and contains
many symbiotic bacteria that aid in the
breaking down of wastes to extract some
small amounts of nutrients.
 RECTUM
• Is an 8-inch chamber that connects the
colon to the anus.
• Its job is to receive stool from the colon,
to let the person know that there is
stool to be evacuated, and to hold the
stool until evacuation happen.
 ANUS
• It is a 2-inch long consisting of pelvic floor
muscles and two anal sphincter (internal &
external).
• The lining of the upper anus is specialized to
detect rectal contents, it lets a person know
whether the contents are liquids, gas, or
solid.
• The anus is surrounded by sphincter muscles
that are important in allowing control of
stool.