Organs of the Digestive

System
6 main organs of the
alimentary canal:
the mouth, pharynx,
esophagus, stomach,
small intestine, and
large intestine.

Accessory glands &

organs:
salivary glands,
pancreas, liver, and
gallbladder, (secrete
digestive juices into
the alimentary canal)
 Mouth
• Your mouth functions both
in ingestion and in the
beginning of digestion.
• Your teeth and tongue are
responsible for
mechanical digestion.
The various shapes of
different types of teeth cut,
smash, and grind food into
smaller pieces. This makes
the food easier to swallow
and exposes more surface
area to digestive enzymes.

Mechanical (physical)
Digestion 1
 Teeth
Herbivores
Incisors in lower jaw used to cut through grass by biting against a
hard pad on the upper jaw.
Premolars and molars are flat helping in grinding.
Jaws move side by side to help grind vegetation.
Carnivores
Carnassial teeth and the premolars and molars are used to shear
Meat and grind bones.
Incisors and canines are used to tear meat.
Jaws have strong scissor action because they move up and down.
Omnivores
Some teeth like herbivores and some teeth like carnivores.
Can move jaws from side to side and up and down.
Hence can eat a wide range of foods.
Dental decay
 Cause of the decay….

• Present in fruits and other foods

• Bacteria (spaces between teeth, crevices on
tooth surface, edges of the gums) produce
acids.
• Corrode the enamel and expose the softer
dentine.
 Fluoride
• Mineral Strengthens enamel
• Strong enamel will prevent cavity
formation
• In some places fluoride is added to
drinking water
toxic
kidney stones
cancer
Toothpaste
Along the Alimentary Canal
MOUTH
1 ½ LITRESOFSALIVA

3PAIRSOFSALIVARY

GLANDS

CELLS, DUCTS

99%WATER, MUCIN,

AMYLASE

Salivary
gland
Salivary
Salivary
gland
gland
 Oesophagus
• Next, the bolus enters a long,
muscle-encased tube called the
oesophagus, which connects the
pharynx to the stomach.
• Food is pushed through the
esophagus by a series of muscle
contractions called peristalsis.
Peristalsis is a radially
symmetrical contraction of muscles
which propagates in a wave down
the muscular tube
• The muscles contract in a wave-like
motion that forces the bolus of food
toward the stomach. Food continues
to move along the alimentary canal
by peristalsis .
 Stomach
• Stomach wall is line with glands which
produce Hydrochloric acid and pepsin
enzyme.
• Hydrochloric acid breaks apart the cells
in food. It also kills many of the
bacteria swallowed with food. Acidic
conditon helps in activity of pepsin
• Pepsin, hydrolyzes large protein
A thick layer of molecules into smaller polypeptides.
muscle tissue • Mechanical digestion turns the bolus
into an acidic liquid called chyme .
enables the stomach Stomach muscles contract, creating a
to break up and stir churning motion that stirs the chyme
and eventually forces it into the small
a bolus of food. intestine.
• At the opposite end of the stomach, a
muscular valve called the pyloric
sphincter regulates the flow of chyme
into the small intestine. It typically
takes 2 to 6 hours after a meal for the
stomach to empty.
• Most of the time, the stomach is
pinched closed at both ends. The
passageway between the esophagus
and the stomach opens when
peristalsis delivers a bolus. But in some
people, the passageway may open at
inappropriate times, allowing acidic
chyme to flow backward into the
esophagus. This creates a burning
sensation called heartburn.
 Duodenum, liver and
pancreas
Duodenum: connects the
stomach to the small
intestine
Two tubes are connected to
it
One carries bile from gall
bladder to mix with the
food
Other carries enzymes from
pancreas to mix with the
food
Stomach + Liver + Pancreas
 SMALL INTESTINE
Cells lining the small
intestine make
enzymes
Different nutrient
groups are broken
into smaller
molecules so that
they are soluble and
pass through the
wall of the small
intestine and
carried from the
blood to all the cells
of the body
• As an end result of digestion,
carbohydrates are hydrolyzed to
monosaccharides. Monosaccharides
provide your cells with a source of
energy. They are also a source of
carbon skeletons (chains of carbon
atoms) for constructing other
organic molecules.
• The complete digestion of proteins
results in individual amino acids.
Your cells use these amino acids to
build their own "brand" of proteins.
• Hydrolysis of fats by the enzyme
lipase (which is secreted by the
pancreas) results in fatty acids and
glycerol. Your cells use these raw
materials to build their own lipids
and cell membranes.
FATE OF UNDIGESTED FOOD

Large Intestine
• By the time food reaches
the end of the small
intestine, the nutrients
have all been broken down
and absorbed. Undigested
material passes through
another sphincter from the
small intestine into the
large intestine.
• water is absorbed into the
body.
• Remaining semisolid
substances form the
faeces stored in rectum
 ENZYMES
REGION OF KIND OF NOTES
PRODUCTION ENZYME
SALIVARY CARBOHYDRASE ENZYME CALLED
GLANDS AS AMYLASE

GASTRIC GLANDS PROTEASE ENZYME IS

CALLED PEPSIN
LIVER BILE EMULSIFIES FATS

PANCREAS PROTEASE ENZYMES ENTER

CARBOHYDRASE DUODENUM AND
LIPASE MIX WITH FOOD
AND BILE
INTESTINE PROTEASE
CARBOHYDRASE
LIPASE
 ILEUM
• Long
• Inside is covered with villi
• Microvilli
VILLI:
Thin permeable walls
Good blood supply (maintains concentration
gradient)
Lymph vessels (absorb fatty acids)
 Assimilation
• Liver
Vitamins and iron are stored
Glucose (insulin and glucagon)- homeostasis
Proteins- converted to other form
rest broken down in liver and parts are
recycled (deamination).
amino part- excreted in the form of urea