UNIT IV LIVING THINGS & THEIR ENVIRONMENT

THE NEED FOR FOOD

 Food is a source of nutrients and energy essential for bodily functions.
 Food is a source of materials needed to maintain health and prevent diseases.
 FUNCTIONS OF ENERGY IN LIVING ORGANISMS
o For green plants, they trap the energy from the sun and convert it to chemical energy during
photosynthesis.
o For animals, including man, energy is derived from the food they eat.
 Potential chemical energy – stored energy found in food.
 Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, but can be converted from one form to another.
 PROCESS OF DIGESTION

Potential chemical energy ----> Kinetic energy + Heat energy

 The food must provide more energy than what is actually needed by the body.

NUTRIENTS IN FOOD
 Food supply us with a variety of nutrients.
 Nutrients – molecules found in food that nourish the body by providing energy and materials essential for growth
and development.
 DIFFERENT NUTRIENTS
1. CARBOHYDRATES
- Main source of energy
- Function as structural component of living cells
- Come mainly from plants in the form of sugar and starch
- Form supporting structures such as the cellulose in plant cells
- Needed in the formation of nucleic acids
- Needed in the synthesis of lubricants
- Examples : rice, corn, bread, pasta, root crops
2. PROTEINS
- Amino acids – building blocks of proteins.
o Essential for the formation of new protoplasm for growth and repair of worn-out body cells.
- Proteins – used for the synthesis of enzymes, hormone and other antibodies to combat diseases.
- Could also be used as energy source
- Most plants and some unicellular organisms capable of producing all the 20 essential amino acids.
- Among humans, eight of these essential amino acids cannot be synthesized and therefore must be
supplied by the food we eat.
o Methionine, tryptophan, leucine and phenylalanine.
- Foods rich in protein include meat, fish, egg, milk seeds and nuts.
- Growing children require two or three times more proteins than adults to supply the needed materials
for growth and development.
- Kwashiorkor – deficiency of proteins with a visible signs of scaly, cracked skin and have swollen
abdomen. It may result to mental retardation.
3. FATS
- energy providing foods
- In fact, fats provide twice as much energy per gram as carbohydrates.
- Eating fat-rich food is an excellent way of storing energy for future use.
- Foods rich in fats include butter, cheese, fatty meat, nuts, leguminous plants and fish liver.
- Atherosclerosis – a disease caused by too much fats intake that accumulate on the walls of blood
vessels.
- When a person consumes more food that what he needs, the body stores the extra energy in the
form of fats, which are deposited beneath the skin. These fats help retain body temperature.
4. VITAMINS
- Complex organic molecules needed in the small amounts cannot be manufactured by the human
body.
- Only Vitamin D can be synthesized in the skin under direct sunlight.
- TYPES OF VITAMINS
o Fat-soluble vitamins – can be stored in the fats of the body.
a. Vitamin A (Carotene, retinol)
- for good vision, maintains integrity of epithelial tissues and growth of skin cells.
- Night blindness, growth retardation and Xeropthalmia (dry cornea and absence of tear secretion) are
diseases in case of deficiency.
- Sources are fruits, yellow and green vegetables, carrots, liver, butter, egg yolk and milk
 b. Vitamin D (Calciferol)
- Promotes absorption of calcium and phosphorus compounds from the intestines and for the formation
of bones and teeth.
- Rickets (defective bone formation) and Osteomalasia (soft bones) are some of the disease in case
of deficiency.
- Sources are fish oils, margarine, egg yolk, beef fats and UV rays from the sun can convert a natural
substance (ergosterol) in the skin to vitamin D.
c. Vitamin E (Tocopherol)
- Proper red blood cell structure, muscle maintenance (prevents oxidation of cellular components) and
coenzyme in Kreb’s cycle.
- Sterility (degeneration of testes and failure of spermatogenesis), defective embryonic growth and
muscular weakness and anemia are diseases in case of deficiency.
- Sources are meat, dairy foods, whole grains, liver and green leafy vegetables.
d. Vitamin K (Menadione)
- Needed for the synthesis of prothrombin for normal blood clotting.
- Hemorrhage (failure of blood to clot) is a disease of vitamin k in case of deficiency.
- Sources are green leafy vegetables, liver and produced by bacteria in the human intestines.
o Water soluble vitamins – cannot be stored in the body and must be supplied in the daily diet.
a. Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
- Coenzyme used in cellular respiration (metabolism of carbohydrate)
- Beri-beri (nerve inflammation), nervous system degeneration and cessation of growth are some of
the diseases brought by deficiency in thiamine.
- Sources are liver, legumes, whole grain, yeast, kidney, heart and lean meat.
b. Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
- Coenzyme in cellular respiration (part of the electron transport system, FAD) and for normal growth.
- Cheilosis (inflammation and cracking at the corners of the mouth) and digestive disturbance are the
diseases in case of deficiency.
- Sources are milk products, eggs, whole grain cereal, green leafy vegetables.
c. Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
- Coenzyme for amino acid metabolism.
- Rare in humans (anemia in dogs and pigs; dermatitis in rats; growth retardation in chickens)
- Sources are liver, whole grains, meat, poultry, fish, and seeds.
d. Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin)
- Proper formation of red blood cells (RBC) and coenzyme in nucleic acid and protein synthesis.
- People who lack cyanocobalamin may suffer anemia.
- Sources are liver, meat, dairy products, eggs, fish and produced by bacteria in human intestines.
e. Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)
- Prevents oxidation of cellular components, strengthens blood vessels, formation of connective tissues
and development of healthy gums.
- People who lack vitamin c may suffer scurvy.
- Sources are citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, tomatoes and other fruits.
f. Niacin (Nicotinamide, nicotinic acid)
- Coenzyme in cellular metabolism (NAD and NADP).
- People who lack niacin may suffer pellagra (thickening, sloughing, and cracking of the skin with extra
pigments)
- Sources are meat, liver, yeast and whole grains.
g. Folic acid
- As coenzyme in the formation of heme in the RBC and nucleotides.
- People who lack folic acid may suffer anemia, kidney hemorrhage and defective intestine absorption.
- Sources are meat, soy beans, leafy vegetables, eggs, liver and whole grains.
h. Vitamin H (Biotin)
- As coenzyme in amino acid metabolism, fat synthesis, and glycogen formation.
- Rare in humans (dermatitis in rats and chickens)
- Sources are liver, yeast, cereals, yolk, vegetables, fruits and produced by bacteria in the gut.

5. MINERALS
- Inorganic substances which do not provide energy but are important in different body functions.
- Calcium, sodium, chlorine, phosphorus, potassium and iron are needed by humans in large amount.
- Trace elements are minerals needed by the body in small amount like iodine, manganese and zinc.
6. WATER
- Man can survive longer without food but not without water!
- Human and most mammals are made up of about 70% water.
 - Water is the biological solvent and the protoplasms of our cells are made up of mainly water.
- Fruits and vegetables are good sources of highly purified water.
- In fact, in temperate regions, it is recommended that a normal adult should drink at least three liters of
water every day.
7. FIBER OR ROUGHAGE
- Indigestible fibrous material found in the vegetables and fruits.
- Fibrous material are made up mainly of cellulose.
- Good sources of dietary fiber – fresh vegetables, fruit, bran, cereals and whole-wheat bread.
- Fibers do not provide us with energy or nutrients but they are important because they provide bulk to
intestinal contents and help peristalsis and help the food to move along the gut.
- Constipation – a condition where undigested food cannot move along the gut and too much water
will be absorbed resulting in dry and hard feces.

DIGESTION IN HUMANS

 The human digestive system is involved in the

breakdown of food into simpler nutrients to be absorbed
by the body.
 Nutrition – the intake of food from sources and the
processes that convert food substances into living
matter.
 Holozoic nutrition – mode of feeding found in animals
and humans.
 The human nutrition involves the following processes:
1. Feeding/Ingestion – intake of food into the body
2. Digestion – process of mechanical and
chemical breakdown whereby large food
molecules are broken down into soluble and
diffusible molecules that can be absorbed into
the body cells.
3. Absorption – the process whereby digested
food material are taken into the body cells and
are converted into new protoplasm or used to
provide energy.
4. Elimination – passing of digested material out
of the digestive tract.
I. DIGESTION OF FOOD
 Two distinct processes involve in digestion in humans
1. Physical digestion / mechanical digestion
- The mechanical breakdown of food into smaller particles.
- Increases the surface area of the ingested food, enabling digestive enzymes act on it move
effectively.
2. Chemical digestion
- The breakdown of the complex molecules, such as proteins, starch and flat contained in food, into
simple, soluble molecules.
- Involves hydrolytic reactions catalyzed by digestive enzymes.
-
 PARTS OF THE HUMAN DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
1. MOUTH
- The intake of food starts from your mouth, which leads into the mouth cavity.
- Upper jaw is fixed; lower jaw is movable.
- Four types of teeth
o Incisors, canines, premolars and molars
- Solid food is broken down into small pieces by the chewing action of your teeth. (physical digestion)
- Tongue has special sense cells or taste buds, which help you to select suitable foods.
- Did your mouth water as you thought about your favorite food? It is because of the three pairs of
salivary glands that open into the mouth cavity via ducts that release a secretion called saliva.
- Salivary glands – gland that secretes saliva which is mixed with the food.
o Mucin – helps soften the food.
o Ptyalin (salivary amylase) – enzyme hat chemically digests coked starch into the
disaccharide maltose.
 2. PHARYNX
- Common passage for food and air
- Part of the gut which leads from the mouth to the esophagus and to the trachea (windpipe) by way of
the larynx or voice box.
- Epiglottis – a piece of flaplike cartilage covers the larynx and no food particles enter the trachea
during the swallowing process.
3. ESOPHAGUS or GULLET
- Greek word means “to carry what is eaten”
- Each bolus (plural, boli) of food passes down the esophagus into the stomach partly with the help of
gravity and partly by peristaltic movements of the esophageal walls.
- It takes about seven seconds to make the journey!
4. STOMACH
- A J-shaped organ which lies beneath the diaphragm and partly covered by the liver where partially
digested food enters.
- It has thick muscles in its wall for contraction to smash the food in sloppy soup.
- Gastric glands – stimulated by the food in the stomach to secrete gastric juice into the stomach
cavity.
- Gastric juice – dilute solution of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and the enzyme pepsin.
- Pepsin – an active enzyme secreted by the chief cells of gastric glands.
- Food normally remains in your stomach for about 2-6 hours but can stay longer up to 24 hours
depending on the kind of food you eat.
- Chyme – liquefied partly digested food which passes in small amounts into duodenum.
- Pyloric sphincter – a muscular valve which joins the stomach and the small intestine.
5. SMALL INTESTINE
- Consists of three parts – a U-shaped duodenum, the jejunum, and the much coiled ileum.
- It is about 6 meters long.
- Intestinal juice – helps break down food arriving from your stomach and helped by the juices that are
produces by liver pancreas.
 SOME DIGESTIVE ENZYMES
1. Ptyalin (salivary amylase) and mucin – works on starch and changes it to complex sugars
 Digestive juice – Saliva
 Source – Salivary glands
2. Pepsin – works on proteins and changes it to simpler proteins
 Digestive juice – gastric juice
 Source – gastric glands in the stomach
3. Pancreatic amylase – works in starch and changes it to complex sugars
 Digestive juice – pancreatic juice
 Source - Pancreas
4. Trypsin – works in proteins and changes I to simpler proteins
 Digestive juice – pancreatic juice
 Source – Pancreas
5. Lipase – works in fats and changes it to fatty acids and glycerol
 Digestive juice – pancreatic juice
 Source - Pancreas
6. Lactase, maltase, sucrose – works in complex sugars and changes it to simple sugars
 Digestive juice – intestinal juice
 Source – intestinal glands in small intestine
7. Peptidase – simpler proteins and changes it to simple sugars
 Digestive juice – intestinal juice
 Source – intestinal glands in small intestine
8. Lipase – works in fats and changes it to fatty acids and glycerol
 Digestive juice – intestinal juice
 Source – intestinal glands in small intestine
 ACCESORRY ORGANS and GLANDS
1. LIVER – largest gland in the body
- It has three attached blood vessels
o Hepatic portal vein , Hepatic vein , Hepatic artery
- It aids digestion by producing bile – an alkaline, greenish-yellow liquid, containing bile salts and bile
pigments.
- Gallbladder- a greenish-yellow bag attached to the liver where bile is temporary stored.
o It releases bile and cannot digest food but it helps in breaking up large fat particles into
smaller ones through the process of emulsification.
 -Other functions of liver:
o Protein synthesis
o Iron storage
o Detoxification
o Heat production
2. PANCREAS
- Soft triangular gland lying between the small intestine and the stomach
- Produces pancreatic juice – mixture of digestive enzymes
- Secretes the hormone insulin – control of the blood sugar level in the body and utilization of
carbohydrates.
II. ABSORPTION OF FOOD
1. Absorption in the small intestine
- Most of the food in the small intestine is digested after 3-5 hours.
- Proteins (amino acids), carbohydrates (simple sugars) and fats (fatty acid and glycerol) are
absorbed and taken in by the bloodstream through the walls of small intestine.
- Villi (sing., villus) – tiny fingerlike structures projecting into the intestinal cavity.
- Jejunum and ileum networks of blood vessels  all parts of the body
2. Absorption in the large intestine
- Smaller but broader than small intestine
- Caecum and appendix
o Caecum is a small sac at the junction between small intestine and large intestine
- Absorbs water and mineral salts from the undigested food material.
III. ELIMINATION OF WASTE MATERIAL
 Feces – materials that are not absorbed in the large intestine
- Made up of dead bacteria and some fat and protein, undigested food roughage, dried out digested
juices, mucus and discarded intestinal cells.
 Rectum – temporary storage of feces
 Anus – an opening where feces is being expelled
 Egestion, defecation or bowel movement – process of removing undigested matter from the body
IV. ASSIMILATION OF NUTRIENTS
 Assimilation – process of transport and use of absorbed nutrients
1. Sugars
- Simple sugars
Glycogen (stored in the liver)
Glucose (carried in the blood) – used by cells for energy production
- When the body needs glucose for energy production, the liver converts the stored glycogen back into
glucose.
2. Amino Acids
- Amino acids
 new protoplasm and used for growth and repair of worn out parts or tissues of the body.
 used for the formation of enzymes and hormones
3. Fats
- Fats
liver converted into forms that can be oxidized or stored
- Adipose tissue – fat storage and insulating tissues which occur beneath the skin.

THE DIFFERENT ENZYMES AND THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

 Enzymes are organic catalyst. They are protein substances that can either initiate or speed up chemical
reactions. The substances that are transformed with the help of enzymes are called substrates.
 Enzymes are very specific in terms of the reactions they will catalyze. The specificity of enzymes was
demonstrated by Emil Fischer, in what he called the “lock and key” model.
 FACTORS AFFECTING ENZYMES
1. Specific complementary geometric shapes
2. Temperature. Enzymes work well in temperature ranging from 30°C to 40°C. Beyond and below this
temperature, enzymes are inactivated.
3. pH. pH pertains to the relative acidity of the medium where the substrate is located. The enzyme pepsin
in the stomach works well in an acidic medium, while the enzymes in the small intestine are efficient in an
alkaline medium.
 Digestive enzymes are classified based on the substrate they work on:
1. Proteases and peptidases – act on proteins breaking them into amino acid units
2. Carbohydrases – act on carbohydrates (starch and sugar) breaking them into simple sugars
3. Lipases – break fats or lipids into fatty acids and glycerol
4. Nucleases – break down nucleic acids into nucleotides
 THE CHEMICAL DIGESTION OF CARBOHYDRATES
- It begins in the mouth and ends in the small intestine.
- In the mouth, carbohydrate-rich food is changed by the salivary amylase (ptyalin) into disaccharides or
double sugars.
- In the stomach, the bolus will be changed into a chyme by the churning action of the stomach.
- In the small intestine, the enzyme amylopsin in the pancreatic juice will repeat the work of ptyalin.
- The intestinal glands release the final enzymes for the digestion of carbohydrates.
- Maltose + Maltase  Glucose + Glucose
- Sucrose + Sucrase  Glucose + Fructose
- Lactose + Lactase  Glucose + Galactose
 THE CHEMICAL DIGESTION OF PROTEIN
- It begins in the stomach and ends in the small intestine.
- In the mouth, digestion of protein is purely mechanical in nature.
- In the stomach, chemical digestion of protein begins. Enzyme pepsin secreted by the chief cells changes
protein to small polypeptides.
 Protein + Pepsin  Small polypeptides
- In the small intestine, the enzyme trypsin in the pancreatic juice will repeat the work of pepsin.
 Protein + Trypsin  Polypeptides + Dipeptides
- The intestinal glands secrete the final enzymes for protein digestion. Amino peptidases will change
polypeptides and small polypeptides to amino acids. Dipeptidase (erepsin) will change dipeptides to amino
acids.
 Polypeptides + Amino peptidases  Amino acids
 Dipeptides + Erepsin  Amino acids
 THE CHEMICAL DIGESTION OF FATS
- It begins and ends in the small intestine. The enzyme pancreatic steapsin will act on fats and change fats
to fatty acids and glycerol.
 Fats + Pancreatic steapsin  Fatty acid + Glycerol
- The intestinal glands secrete the enzyme intestinal steapsin and will act on fats changing them to fatty
acids and glycerol
 Fats + intestinal steapsin  Fatty acid + glycerol
 THE CHEMICAL DIGESTION OF NUCLEIC ACIDS
- It begins and ends in the small intestine.
- The enzyme nuclease in the pancreatic juice will act on nucleic acid-rich foods and will change them to
nucleotides.
 Nucleic acid-rich food + Nuclease  Nucleotide
- The intestinal glands,
 Nucleotide + Nucleotidase  Nucleoside + Phosphoric acid
 Nucleoside + Nucleosidase  Pentose + Nitrogenous base