Function of Digestive System Flashcards
What is the function of the Salivary Gland?
Salivary Glands are found in the buccal cavity, and moisten the food making it easier to swallow.
They contain Amylase, which starts the chemical digestion of sugars.
What is the function of the Buccal Cavity (mouth)?
The Buccal Cavity breaks down food into smaller pieces and increases the surface area of food, to increase the rate of chemical digestion.
What is the Bolus?
The Bolus is food that has been chewed and mixed with saliva, to create a softball in the mouth.
What is the function of the Epiglottis?
The Epiglottis is cartilage behind the root of the tongue, which is depressed during swallowing to cover the opening of the windpipe.
What is the function of the oesophagus?
The Oesophagus is a muscular tube, that leads the buccal cavity to the stomach. It uses peristalsis to push food down into the stomach.
What is the function of the Stomach?
The stomach aids in mechanical and chemical digestion, where it will secrete enzymes responsible for breaking down carbs, proteins and fats, into smaller and simpler molecules. The end result is a soup-like substance called ‘Chime’.
What is the function of the Liver?
The Liver in the digestive system processes the nutrients absorbed from the small intestine.
It also produces ‘Bile’, which emulsified fat and aids in chemical digestion in the duodenum, jejunum and ileum.
What is the function of the Bile Duct?
The Bile duct carries bile from the gallbladder to the duodenum (start of the small intestine).
What is the function of the Gall Bladder?
The Gall Bladder stores bile in the liver after its been secreted and before it is released into the intestine.
What is the function of the Pancreas?
The Pancreas secretes digestive enzymes into the duodenum and secretes hormones, insulin and glucagon into the blood.
What is the function of the Pancreatic Duct?
The small gland between the Pancreas and duodenum, which carries digestive enzymes from the Pancreas, and to the small intestine, where chemical digestive can occur.
What parts are the Small intestine comprised of?
Comprised of the duodenum, jejunum and ileum.
What is the function of the Small intestine?
To absorb nutrients from food.
What is the function of the Ileum?
The Ileum is covered in villi (finger-like structures), that increase the surface area of the small intestine, to increase the rate of absorption of nutrients into the blood.
What is the Large intestine comprised of?
The Large intestine is divided into the Cecum, Colon and Rectum.
