DIGESTIVE SYSTEM (ALIMENTARY CANAL) Flashcards
What is the alimentary canal?
The alimentary canal is a long hollow tube which runs from the mouth to the anus.Together with several other organs, including the liver and the pancreas, it makes up the digestive system.
What is digestion?
The process of breaking down large, insoluble food molecules into smaller, soluble ones using enzymes
What is mechanical digestion?
The breakdown of food into smaller pieces without chemical change to the food molecules
What is chemical digestion?
The breakdown of large, insoluble molecules into small, soluble molecules.
What are the key stages of digestion?
Ingestion , digestion , and absorption.
What is ingestion?
the taking of substances, e.g. food and drink, into the body through the mouth.
What is digestion?
The process of breaking down large, insoluble food molecules into smaller, soluble ones using enzymes
What is absorption?
The process of passing digested food molecules across the walls of the intestine into the blood or lymph
What is assimilation?
Uptake of and use of food molecules by cells
What is egestion?
Passing out of undigested food, in the form of faeces, from the anus
Name the main regions of the alimentary canal
Mouth
Oesophagus
Stomach
Small intestine (duodenum + ileum)
Large intestine (colon +rectum)
Anus.
Associated organs(salivary glands, Pancreas, liver, gall bladder)
What is the function of the duodenum
To finish the digestion of food coming out from the stomach.
What is the function of the salivary glands
Mechanical Digestion - Teeth chew food to break it into smaller pieces and increase its surface area to volume ratio
Amylase enzymes in saliva digest starch into maltose
Food is shaped into a bolus by the tongue
What is the function of the oespohagus
It connects the mouth to the stomach , the bolus goes down it after being swallowed.
What is the function of the stomach
To mechanically digest food by churning while protease enzymes chemically digest proteins.
What is the ph of the small intestine
Slightly alkaline - around ph8-9
What is the function of the ileum?
Absorption of digested food molecules take place.(Through villi)
What is the function of the large intestine?
Absorption of water from remaining material in the colon to produce faeces.
What is the function of the liver?
Produces bile to emulsify fats.
What is the function of the pancreas?
To produce all three types of digestive enzymes; protase amylase and lipase
Secretes enzymes into the duodenum
What is the function of the gall bladder
To store bile
