Animal Nutrition Flashcards
what are the four steps in digestion (4)
- ingestion
- digestion
- absorption
- elimination
what is the role of the digestive system
- ingestion and digestion of food into component molecules and then absorption of molecules by intestine
what are the functions of the mouth (4)
- ingestion
- mechanical digestion
- enzymatic digestion
- not all species perform all types of digestion in their mouth
what kind of feeders are humans (2)
- generalist feeders: omnivores that eat both plants and other animals
- our digestive system is generalized
what is the function of the mouth in humans (3)
- performs ingestion
- mechanical digestion (chewing)
- enzymatic digestion (saliva contains enzymes)
snakes are carnivores and tend to swallow their food whole: what type of digestion occurs in snake mouths
- no types of digestion; mouth is only involved in ingestion
when flies land on food, they spit out liquid contained digestive enzymes before sucking up the resulting fluid: why types of digestion do fly mouths perform
- enzymatic digestion
what does mouth anatomy and role depend on (2)
- the food source
- the type of feeder
what are the feeder types (3)
- bulk feeders: ingest large pieces of food
- fluid feeders: ingest fluid
- suspension and filter feeders: capture particles in the water column
what begins enzymatic digestion in humans
- saliva
saliva (2)
- human salivary glands secrete salivary amylase enzyme that performs enzymatic digestion of carbohydrates
- contains water and mucus to help lubricate food
salivary amylase
- digests glucose polymers such as starch and glycogen into disaccharides
do all humans have the same amount of amylase
- humans vary in the amount of salivary amylase they produce
why does salivary amylase vary among humans (3)
- related to dietary composition
- due to the variation in the copy number of the salivary amylase gene
- populations with traditionally high starch diets have additional copies of the amylase gene in their genomes
how does the amount of amylase influence behaviour (2)
- amylase gene copy number in humans is associated with risk of obesity
- the lower the copies of salivary amylase, the more likely a person is to be predisposed to obesity
why do most mammals lack salivary amylase
- amount of salivary amylase activity is based on dietary types
- species with specialized diets tend to have less salivary amylase activity, whereas those with broad diets tend to have higher salivary amylase activity
which dietary types are not likely to have salivary amylase (2)
- herbivores and carnivores
- specialized feeders don’t need to taste/distinguish between food because their diet is so specific to one food type
how is saliva secretion regulation (2)
- thought, taste, texture of food can stimulate saliva secretion
- regulation by the autonomic nervous system, and more specifically the parasympathetic branch
autonomic nervous system (2)
- two branched: parasympathetic and sympathetic
- branches act on similar organs, but tend to have opposite effects
parasympathetic activity
- resting and digesting
sympathetic activity
- fight or flight
salivary reflex (3)
- thought of food in mouth or food being in mouth trigger salivary control centres in the hypothalamus
- this increases parasympathetic activity and decreases sympathetic activity
- causes salivary glands to increase saliva production
what type of digestion does the stomach perform (3)
- mechanical
- chemical
- enzymatic
mechanical digestion in the stomach
- peristalsis
chemical and enzymatic digestion in the stomach
- secretion of acid (HCl) and enzymes that help to digest proteins
what is the function of the low pH (extremely acidic) environment of the stomach (2)
- disrupts hydrogen bonds that stabilize secondary and tertiary structures of proteins in foods, denaturing them so they are more accessible to digestive enzymes
- create low pH environment where stomach enzymes thrive
enzymatic digestion in the stomach
- proteins are digested by the enzyme pepsin, which is only active at low pH
stomach anatomy (4)
- stomach lining contains gastric pits/gastric glands
- chief cells
- parietal cells
- goblet cells
chief cells
produce pepsinogen (pepsin precursor)
parietal cells
- produce HCl
goblet cells
- produce mucus
pepsin activation in the stomach (3)
- pepsin synthesized in inactive form (called pepsinogen)
- low pH causes pepsinogen to change conformation: it attacks itself and cuts out a part of protein to expose the pepsin active site that can digest proteins
- pepsin can also digest pepsinogen and active it, called positive feedback
what stops the stomach from digesting itself
- stomach mucus
stomach mucus (2)
- produced by goblet cells
- contains bicarbonate that neutralizes acid and mucins that make it thick