Digestive System Flashcards
Mouth
Where food enters the alimentary canal and the digestion begins with the teeth
Salivary glands
Produces saliva containing the enzymes amylase which breaks down starch
Oesophagus
Muscular tube which moves ingested food to the stomach
Stomach
Muscular organ where hydrochloric acid helps kill bacteria and enzymes break down food.
They churn the food and release gastric juices
Pancres
Produces digestive enzymes to break down carbohydrates and proteins
Liver
Produces bile which emulsifies fats and neutralises stomach acids
Gall bladder
Stores bile before releasing it into the duodenum
Duodenum (small intestine)
Where food is mixed with digestive enzymes and bile
Ileum (SI)
Where digested food is absorbed into the blood
‘Small intestine’
Absorbing nutrients and water into the bloodstream through villi
Colon (large intestine)
Where water is reabsorbed
Rectum (LI)
Where faeces are stored
Anus (LI)
Where faeces leave the alimentary canal
What is a ‘bolus’
Food that has been chewed and mixed with Silava
What is a gullet?
Slang for the oesophagus - muscular tube which connects and moves ingested food to the stomach from the mouth
Peristalsis
Peristalsis is the wave-like motion of muscles in your digestive system that moves food and liquids along. It helps push food from your mouth down to your stomach and through your intestines
Adaptation of SI
Villi
1 cell wall thick
What are villi and hiw do they help
Finger like projections called villi, these are very thin and serve to increase the surface area of the intestines. The increase in surface area aids diffusion
Describe the journey of the digestive system
Mouth: Food is chewed and mixed with saliva to start breaking it down.
Esophagus: Food moves down through the esophagus by peristalsis.
Stomach: Food is mixed with stomach acids and enzymes for further breakdown.
Duodenum: food is mixed with bile and other enzymes for further breakdown
Ileum - Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream through villi. (Small fingerlike projections that increase absorption through surface area)
Liver: Produces bile to help break down fats.
Pancreas: Releases enzymes to aid digestion in the small intestine.
Colon (Large Intestine): Absorbs water and salts, turning waste into stool.
Rectum/Anus: Waste is stored and eventually eliminated from the body.
Name the acid the stomach produces
Hydrochloric acid (helps break down food)
What type of chemical will neutralise stomach acids
Alkali chemicals
E.g. sodium hydrogen
Describe how carbohydrates are digested.
- starting in the mouth.
- the enzyme salivary amylase begins breaking down starch into smaller carbohydrate units, including maltose, sugars and glucose
- Once the food reaches the stomach, the acidic environment halts the action of salivary amylase, stopping starch digestion temporarily.
- In the small intestine, pancreatic amylase continues to break down starch into maltose and other sugar molecules.
- The enzyme maltase, located in the small intestine lining, breaks down maltose into two glucose molecules, which are simple sugars.
- The glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream through the small intestine walls, providing the body with energy.
Where in the body are the products of digestion absorbed
Small intestine
Name 1 organ that makes lipase
Pancreas/small intestine
