incisors

canines

premolars

molars
 pharynx
mouth
cavity salivary glands

oesophagus
tongue
diaphragm

liver
stomach

duodenum pancreas

gall
bladder pyloric
sphincter
transverse
colon
descending
ascending colon
colon
caecum
appendix rectum
The Mouth
• Ingestion of food
• Chewing breaks food into smaller particles (mechanical
digestion)
• Saliva, made by 3 salivary glands, contains mucus and a
digestive enzyme, salivary amylase (begins the digestion of
starch)
The teeth
• 4 incisors: for biting or cutting
• 2 canines: for tearing
• 4 premolars and 6 molars: for crushing and grinding food
- After chewing, the tongue pushes the bolus (food lump) into the
pharynx
The Oesophagus
• Has a double layer of muscle – circular muscle (fibres arranged
in a circle) and longitudinal muscle (fibres arranged along the
length)
• Waves of constriction pushes bolus by the circular muscle
(peristalsis) – lubricated by mucus from inner lining
The Stomach
• Churns food by waves of contraction (mechanical
digestion) by its oblique, circular and longitudinal layers of
muscles – to form chyme (liquid food)
• Mucosa (lining of stomach) secretes gastric juice (secreted
by gastric glands)
• Gastric juice contains mucus, HCl and pepsin (breaks
down proteins to polypeptides)
• Stores food as it is eaten.
• Do not absorb nutrients (but does absorb some drugs)
• The end has a pyloric sphincter that restrict movements of
stomach contents
• Mucus protects stomach wall
 gastric pit

connective tissue

cells that
secrete
mucus
cells that gastric gland
secret
pepsinogen
cells that
secret HCl
Small Intestine – Digestion
• Churn food by muscular contractions (mechanical digestion)

• Bile salts (produced in liver, stored in gall bladder) emulsify lipids

– increasing surface area for lipases to act on

• Pancreatic juice (produced by pancreas) contains pancreatic

amylase (breaks starch → disaccharides), pancreatic protease
[trypsin] (breaks proteins + polypeptides → peptides), pancreatic
lipases (breaks lipids → fatty acids + glycerol) and nucleases
(digest DNA + RNA) and neutralise stomach materials with
carbonate

• Intestinal juice (produced by glands in lining) complete digestion;

contains amylases/dissacharadases i.e. sucrase, maltase and
lactase (break disaccharides → simple sugars), peptidases
(breaks peptides → amino acids) and lipases
(breaks lipids → fatty acids + glycerol)
Small Intestine – Absorption
• Products of digestion + minerals + vitamins + water are
absorbed through the intestinal wall
• The mucosa (inner lining) has folds, finger-like projections called
villi (with even smaller projections called microvilli)
• Lacteal – a lymph capillary in the villus, surrounded by blood
capillaries
• Absorption is enhanced by movements of the wall – bringing villi
close to contents
• Some absorption occurs through simple diffusion (higher
concentration of nutrients inside than in cells in lining)
• Some occurs through active transport
• Simple sugars, amino acids, water and water-soluble vitamins →
blood capillaries → liver (by hepatic portal vein) or body cells
• Fatty acids + glycerol recombine (form fats) in villi, and fat-
soluble vitamins → lacteals → lymph system → blood (through
veins in upper body)
Carbohydrates
• Provides energy for body cells; first source of energy
• Monosaccharides: simple sugars/ single-unit sugars (e.g. glucose,
fructose ad galactose)
• Disaccharides: 2 simple sugars joined (e.g. sucrose, maltose and
lactose)
• Polysaccharides: large numbers of simple sugars joined (e.g.
glycogen, cellulose and starch)
Lipids
• Second source of energy; energy reserves in body
• Each lipid molecule consists of 1 molecule of glycerol + 1-3 fatty acids
molecules g fatty acid
• Triglyceride: glycerol + 3 fatty acids (found in body) l
y
Proteins c fatty acid
• Third source of energy; can be converted to glucose e
• Made up of amino acids r
• Dipeptide: 2 amino acids joined by a peptide bond o fatty acid
l
• Polypeptide: 10+ amino acids joined
Large Intestine - Elimination
• Absorbs remaining water
• Bacteria in large intestine break down much of remaining organic
compounds (some bacteria produce vitamins, that are then
absorbed into the body)
• Minerals are also absorbed
• Faeces: contain water, undigested food material, bacteria, bile
pigments (from the breakdown of haemoglobin from red blood
cells) and remains of cells (that have broken away from internal
lining of alimentary canal)
Excretory Organs
• Lungs: excretion of CO2 from cellular respiration
• Sweat glands: secretes sweat (containing by-products of
metabolism i.e. urea, salts and lactic acid)
• Alimentary canal: passes out bile pigments
• Kidneys: principal excretory organs; maintain constant
concentration of materials in body fluids

Nephrons
• Found in kidneys (microscopic); remove wastes from
blood, regulate blood composition
• Renal corpuscle = glomerulus + glomerular capsule
(Bowman’s capsule)
• Efferent arteriole breaks into a second capillary network
of peritubular capillaries (leading to the renal vein)
• Urine: substances not absorbed drain from collecting
ducts into renal pelvis (where they are then pushed by
waves of contraction to the urinary bladder to be stored)
 Ascending
limb

Descending limb
Urine Formation
Glomerular filtration
•Takes place in renal corpuscle
• Fluid is forced of the blood into the Bowman’s capsule – efferent arteriole
is smaller then afferent arteriole, creating pressure in glomerulus. Turns to
filtrate.
• Blood in capillaries is separated from 2 layers: wall of capillary and wall of
capsule
• Filtrate = water + salts + amino acids + fatty acids + glycerol + urea + uric
acid + creatinine + hormones + toxins + various ions
Reabsorption (and selection)
•Takes place in renal tubule (by internal cells)
• Absorbed materials: water + glucose + amino acids + ions i.e. Na+, K+,
Ca2+, Cl- and HCO3- (bicarbonate) + some wastes i.e. urea
• Active transport of water can be regulated under hormonal control
(facultative reabsorption)
Tubular secretion (passive or active)
• Adds K+, H+, creatinine and drugs
• Controls pH of blood by secreting H+ and NH4 + into filtrate
 microvilli

capillaries
lacteal
absorptive cell
secretory cell

intestinal gland

artery
vein
lymphatic vessel
Region of nephron Activities taking place
Renal corpuscle Filtration of blood from capillaries of
glomerulus
Formation of filtrate in the Bowman’s
capsule
Proximal convoluted tubule and loop of Reabsorption of Na+, K+, Ca2+, Cl- and
Henle HCO3-
Reabsorption of glucose

Passive reabsorption of water by

diffusion
Distal convoluted tubule Reabsorption of Na+

Active transportation of water

depending on body’s needs
Secretion of K+, H+, creatinine and
certain drugs i.e. penicillin
Collecting duct Active reabsorption of water
depending on body’s needs
Liver – Excretion
• Proteins are metabolised when other sources of energy are used
up – deamination (the removal of the amino group NH2 from
amino acids) occurs in liver with help of enzymes
• Once NH2 is removed, it is converted by liver cells to urea
• The remaining part of amino acid is converted to carbohydrate
(which is broken down to energy, CO2 and water by cells)
enzymes

amino acid + O2 → carbohydrate + ammonia

• Ammonia is water-soluble and is highly toxic in large quantities
to cells
• It is converted to urea by liver cells, then eliminated through
urine or as sweat
energy + CO2 + ammonia → urea + water