Digestive System Flashcards
Mechanical digestion
Begins with chewing of food in mouth and continues with the churning and mixing of food in the stomach
Chemical digestion
Enzymes breaking down molecules to small organic molecules to be absorbed
The mouth
Salivary glands produce saliva
Pharynx
Receives air from nasal cavity and food from the mouth h
Esophagus
Long tube that passes from pharynx to stomach
Peristalsis happens here
Peristalsis
Rhythmic muscular contractions pushes food along digestive tract
The stomach
Continues from the esophagus above and the dudodenum of the small intestine below.
Starts digestion of proteins
Moves food into small intestine
Contains gastric glands that produces gastric juices
Small intestine
Receives bile from liver
Receives pancreatic juices form the pancreas
Walls of small intestine have villi and microvilli giving more surface area
Hormone
Substance produced by one set of cells that affects a different set of cells
Large intestine
Absorbs water, salts and vitamins
The pancreas
Secretes insulin and glucagon
Produces pancreatic juice which helps neutralizes the stomach acid
The liver
Maintains blood glucose levels Detoxifies blood Destroys red blood cells Produces urea Makes plasma proteins Stores iron and vitamins
Produces bile, stored in the gallbladder
Gall bladder
Stores bile and sends it to small intestine when needed via the bile duct
Salivary amylase
Produced by the salivary glands
Happens in the mouth
Starts as starch, goes to maltose
Pancreatic amylase
Produced by the pancreas
Site of action is the small intestine
Starch to maltose
