Tongue The tongue is an accessory digestive organ composed of skeletal muscle covered with mucous membrane.

Together with its associated muscles, it forms the floor of the oral cavity. In conjunction with the cheeks, it is able to guide and maintain food between the upper and lower teeth until mastication is complete. The motility of the tongue aids in creating a negative pressure within the oral cavity and thus enables infants to suckle. Especially important as a peripheral sense organ, the tongue contains groups of specialized epithelial cells, known as taste buds, which carry stimuli from the oral cavity to the central nervous system. [4]

Figure 8. Structure of Tongue [5] The tongue consists of a mass of interwoven striated (striped) muscles interspersed with fat. The mucous membrane that covers the tongue varies in different regions. The tongue is attached to the lower jaw, the hyoid bone (a U-shaped bone between the lower jaw and the larynx), the skull, the soft palate, and the pharynx by its extrinsic muscles. It is bound to the floor of the mouth and to the epiglottis (a plate of cartilage that serves as a lid for the larynx) by folds of mucous membrane.[4] Mechanical digestion in the mouth results from chewing, or mastication, in which food is manipulated by the tongue, ground by the teeth, and mixed with saliva. As a result, the food is reduced to a soft, flexible, easily swallowed mass called a bolus. Food molecules begin to dissolve in the water in saliva, an important activity because enzymes can react with food molecules in a liquid medium only. The bolus is pushed back into the pharynx (throat) and is forced through the opening to the esophagus. Two enzymes, salivary amylase and lingual lipase, contribute to chemical digestion in the mouth. Salivary amylase, which is secreted by the salivary glands, initiates the breakdown of starch. Most of the carbohydrates we eat are starches, but only monosaccharides can be absorbed into the bloodstream. Thus, the function of salivary amylase is to begin starch digestion by breaking down starch into smaller molecules such as the disaccharide maltose, the trisaccharide maltotriose, and short-chain glucose polymers called -dextrins. Saliva also contains lingual lipase, which is secreted by lingual glands in the tongue. This enzyme becomes activated in the acidic environment of the stomach and

thus starts to work after food is swallowed. It breaks down dietary triglycerides (fats and oils) into fatty acids and diglyceride.[1]