Stages of food processing Flashcards
Main stages of food processing
Ingestion, digestion, absorption, and elimination
Ingestion
The act of eating or feeding
Types of feeders
- Suspension feeders
- Substrate feeders
- Fluid feeders
- Bulk feeders
Suspension feeders
Sift small food particles from the water (absorb food and water, filter out what they need –> filter feeders)
Substrate feeders
Animals that live in or on their food source
EX: caterpillar living on a leaf
Fluid feeders
Suck nutrient rich fluid from a living host
EX: mosquito sucking blood
Bulk feeders
Eat relatively large pieces of food
EX: snake can expand jaw to eat animals whole
Digestion
The process of breaking food down into molecules small enough to absorb
Types of digestion
Mechanical and chemical
Mechanical digestion
(chewing), increases the surface area of food
Chemical digestion
Splits food into small molecules that an pass through membranes (used to build larger molecules)
Enzymatic hydrolysis
Process of splitting bonds in molecules with the addition of water
Purpose of digestive compartments
Reduce the risk of an animal digesting its own cells an d tissues
Extracellular digestion
Breakdown of food particles that occurs in compartments that are continuous with the outside of the animal’s body
Gastrovascular cavity
Animals with simple body plans have this to digest and distribute nutrients
EX: hydra
