Enzymes and Digestion Flashcards
What is the human digestive system made up of?
A long muscular tube and its associated glands
What do the glands in the digestive system produce?
Enzymes
What is the role of enzymes in the digestive system?
They hydrolyse large molecules into smaller ones ready for absorption
What is the digestive system?
An exchange surface through which food substances are absorbed
What are the major parts of the digestive system?
- the oesophagus
- the stomach
- the ileum
- the large intestine
- the rectum
What is the role of the oesophagus?
It carries food from the mouth to the stomach
What is the stomach?
A muscular sac with an inner layer that produces enzymes
What is the role of the stomach?
It stores and digests food (especially proteins(it has glands which produce enzymes to digest proteins))
What is the ileum?
A long muscular tube
What happens in the ileum?
Food is further digested by enzymes produced by ts walls and by its glands
What is the purpose of the ileum?
Absorbing the products of digestion into the blood stream
How is the ileum adapted to its purpose?
The inner walls are folded into villi which gives them a large surface area, the surface area of the villi is then increased by millions of tiny projections called microvili which are on the epithelial cells of each villus
What do the gland in the ileum do with the Secretions they produce?
They pour them onto the digesting food
What is the role of the large intestine?
Absorbing water
What is most of the water absorbed by the large intestine?
Water from the secretions of the many digestive glands
What is the role of the rectum?
It is where the faeces are stored before they are periodically removed via the anus in the process of egestion
Where are the salivary glands found?
Near the mouth
What do the salivary glands do?
They pass on their secretions via a duct in the mouth
What do the secretions from salivary glands contain?
The enzyme amylase which hydrolysed starch into maltose
What is the pancreas?
A large gland situated below the stomach
What does the pancreas produce?
Pancreatic juices
What does the pancreatic juice contain?
- Proteases to hydrolysed proteins
- Lipase to hydrolyse lipids
- Amylase to hydrolyse starch
What are the two stages in digestion?
- physical breakdown
- chemical digestion
Why does the physical breakdown of food take place?
To make the food possible to ingest and to provide a large surface area for chemical digestion
What are the two ways food can be physically broken down?
By the teeth and by the churning of food in the stomach by the muscles in the stomach wall
What does chemical digestion do?
It hydrolyses large, insoluble molecules into smaller, soluble ones
How is chemical digestion carried out?
By enzymes
How do all digestive enzymes function?
By hydrolysis
What is hydrolysis?
The splitting up of molecules by adding water to the chemical bonds that hold them together