- Secretes gastric juice
- Digestive fluid mixes with the food
- HCL breaks down food and exposes peptide bonds + kills most bacteria
- Pepsin breaks peptide bonds
Chemical digestion: pepsin + HCL
Mechanical digestion: peristalsis
- Smooth muscles control
- Controlled by autonomic nervous system
- Two layers of muscle
- circular
- longitudinal
- Movement of food = peristalsis
- Digestion is completed here
- Products are absorbed into the blood stream
- Content enters the first part, where bile (from the gallbladder and liver) enters
- The small intestine has villi which increases surface area
- Main function is to reabsorb water
- Long and folded to maximise absorption
- Mucus is secreted for lubrication and aids the movement of feces
- Villi increase surface area for absorption
- Villi have microvilli which have protein pumps
- Absorb food by active transport and facilitated diffusion
- Villi have one layer of epithelial cells which lead to easier absorption
- Blood capillaries are near the surface which minimizes the distance the molecules have to travel
- Lymph vessels (lacteal) near the surface which allows for easy absorption of lipids
Pancreas and Digestine
Pancreas produces enzymes that aid digestion
- Lipase - hydrolizes lipids to glycerol and fatty acids
- Amylase - hydrolizes starch to maltose
- Trypsin - hydrolizes large polypeptides to small polypeptides