The digestive system (small and large intestine, pancreas etc.) Flashcards
What types of digestion occur in the small intestine?
Mechanical, Chemical, Absorption, and Movement
How does food move through the small intestine?
Peristalsis moves food through the small intestine.
What does the pancreas produce for digestion in the small intestine?
Pancreatic juice.
What does the alkaline in pancreatic juice do?
Neutralises stomach acid.
What does pancreatic amylase do?
Breaks down polysaccharides into disaccharides and then monosaccharides.
What does pancreatic protease do?
Breaks down polypeptides into peptides and then amino acids.
What does pancreatic lipase do?
Breaks down lipids into fatty acids and glycerol.
What do the intestinal glands produce?
Intestinal juice.
What does the alkaline in intestinal juice do?
Maintains a pH environment.
What does mucus in the intestinal glands do?
Lubricates the lining.
What enzymes are found in the intestinal glands?
Intestinal amylase, intestinal protease, intestinal lipase.
What is bile and what does it do?
Bile is produced in the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and emulsifies lipids to increase surface area for digestion.
What is segmentation in digestion?
Muscle contractions mix partially digested food with digestive juices.
What is peristalsis?
A type of muscle contraction that moves food along the digestive tract.
What is absorption in digestion?
The uptake of nutrients into the blood.
How do nutrients enter the bloodstream?
They enter the villi and are released into the bloodstream.
How long is the large intestine?
1.5m long and roughly 8cm wide.
What enters the large intestine from the small intestine?
Remaining undigested food with surface-level vitamins and minerals.
What does ‘good bacteria’ in the large intestine do?
Breaks down organic compounds and absorbs essential minerals and vitamins.
What are feces composed of?
Water, undigested food, bacteria, and mucus.
What signals the brain that feces are ready to be eliminated?
Pressure on the walls of the rectum.
What causes diarrhea?
Too much fiber or too much bad bacteria in the intestine.
What causes constipation?
Not enough soluble fiber in the intestine.
What does the liver do?
Produce bile and sends it too the gallblader.
What does the pancreas do?
secrete pancreatic juices and enzymes such as, Pancreatic amylase, pancreatic protease and pancreatic lipase.
What does the gallbladder do?
Store bile until it is required in the small intestine.
Structure of villi
Villi are small finger like structures that line the small intestine and there are millions of them in the small intestine.
Function of villi
They increase the surface area of the small intestine by lining the surface area and too absorb nutrients into the bloodstream.
