The Digestive System

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 Mechanical and Chemical Processing
• The process of taking large pieces of food
and breaking them down into individual
molecules that can be absorbed.

• Mechanical processing
– Chewing in the oral cavity generates a food
bolus.
• Increases surface area of food
• Allows digestive enzymes greater access to the
food
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 Mechanical and Chemical Processing

• Salivary glands produce saliva containing some

digestive enzymes.
– Chewing mixes the food with the saliva.
• Salivary amylase begins to break down starch.
– Tongue
• Tastes food
• Pushes food back toward throat

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 Mechanical and Chemical Processing

• Food bolus passes through the esophagus to the stomach

– Moves from mouth to the pharynx into the esophagus
– Contractions of the pharynx move the food toward the stomach.

• In the stomach, food is churned.

– Mixes food with digestive juices
• Pepsin breaks down proteins.
– Low pH denatures proteins
– The food then moves to the small intestine where chemical
breakdown is completed.
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 Mechanical and Chemical Processing
• Chemical processing in the small intestine

– Receives digestive enzymes and bicarbonate ions from

the pancreas
• Digestive enzymes complete the chemical processing of
food.
• Bicarbonate neutralizes the low pH of the food coming from
the stomach.

– Receives bile from the liver by way of the gall bladder

• Emulsifies fat into smaller fat globules
• Allows digestive enzymes greater access to the fats

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 Mechanical and Chemical Processing

• Finally, the remainder of the undigested food

passes from the small intestine to the large
intestine (colon).
– 1.5 meters long
– Water is reabsorbed.
– Contains bacteria that utilize the undigested food
• These bacteria produce vitamins that we need.

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 Digestive Enzymes

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 Nutrient Uptake
• Once food is broken down into individual
macromolecules, they can be absorbed
into the bloodstream.
– Absorption occurs through the lining of the
small intestine.
– Requires a large surface area
• The small intestine is very long (6 to 8 meters).
• The lining of the small intestine has fingerlike
projections called villi.

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 Nutrient Uptake
• Each villus contains
– Several capillaries
– A lymphatic vessel called a lacteal

• Involves diffusion
– Water and small ions move into blood via simple
diffusion.

– Sugars and amino acids move into blood via carrier

proteins.

– Fatty acids and glycerol enter intestinal cells where

they are built into fats and transported into the
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 Chemical Alterations: The Role of the Liver
• The nutrient-rich blood leaves the intestine and
goes straight to the liver.
– Moves through the hepatic portal vein

• In the liver
– Enzymes modify the nutrient molecules.
– Foreign organisms are filtered out.

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Chemical Alterations: The Role of the Liver
• Toxic substances are detoxified
– Ethyl alcohol
– Plant toxins

• Excess glucose is collected and stored as

glycogen.

• Excess amino acids are converted to

– Glucose and stored
– Urea sent to the kidneys
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The Excretory System : (The Urinary System)
• Consists of
– Kidneys
– Ureters
– Urinary bladder
– Urethra
• Responsible for the processing and elimination of metabolic
waste
– Urea
– Toxic substances
– Hydrogen ions
– Water
– ©Salts
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 The Urinary System

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 Kidney Structure

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 Kidney Function
• In order to filter out waste, kidney must have
a close association with bloodstream

– Exchange of waste occurs across a surface

– Requires large surface area
• Glomerulus represents a large surface area

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 Kidney Function
• Major activities in kidney
– Filtration
• Blood enters glomerulus under pressure as the
heart contracts.
• Glomerular capillaries are porous.
– Glucose, amino acids, ions, and water are pushed
through the pores into the nephron tubules.

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 Kidney Function
• Reabsorption
– Not everything that is filtered into the nephron needs to be
excreted.

– Some molecules are reabsorbed into capillaries around the

nephron.
• Amino acids, glucose, sodium
– Occurs mostly in the proximal convoluted tubule

– Water is reabsorbed in the Loop of Henle.

• Occurs because of osmotic gradients that exist in the
kidney
• Concentrates the urine and conserves water
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 Specific Functions of the Nephron

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