CHAPTER 6

LIFE PROCESSES

6.2 Nutrition

Nutrition in Plants and Animals:

 Nutrition: The process by which an organism takes food and utilizes it, is called
nutrition.
 Need for Nutrition: Organisms need the energy to perform various activities. The
energy is supplied by the nutrients. Organisms need various raw materials for growth
and repair. These raw materials are provided by nutrients.
 Nutrients: Materials which provide nutrition to organisms are called nutrients.
Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are the main nutrients and are called macronutrients.
Minerals and vitamins are required in small amounts and hence are called
micronutrients.
 Modes of Nutrition
1. Autotrophic Nutrition.
2. Heterotrophic Nutrition.

Autotrophic Nutrition:

The mode of nutrition in which an organism prepares its own food is called autotrophic
nutrition. Green plants and blue-green algae follow the autotrophic mode of nutrition.

 The organisms which carry out autotrophic nutrition are called autotrophs (green
plants).

 Autotrophic nutrition is fulfilled by the process, by which autotrophs intake CO2 and
H2O, and convert these into carbohydrates in the presence of chlorophyll, sunlight is
called photosynthesis.

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Heterotrophic Nutrition:

The mode of nutrition in which an organism takes food from another organism is called
heterotrophic nutrition. Organisms, other than green plants and blue-green algae follow the
heterotrophic mode of nutrition. Heterotrophic nutrition can be further divided into three
types, viz. saprophytic nutrition, holozoic nutrition, and parasitic.

 Saprophytic Nutrition: In saprophytic nutrition, the organism secretes the digestive

juices on the food. The food is digested while it is still to be ingested. The digested food
is then ingested by the organism. All the decomposers follow saprophytic nutrition.
Some insects, like houseflies, also follow this mode of nutrition.
 Holozoic Nutrition: In holozoic nutrition, the digestion happens inside the body of the
organism. i.e., after the food is ingested. Most of the animals follow this mode of
nutrition.
 Parasitic Nutrition: The organism which lives inside or outside another organism
(host) and derives nutrition from it is known as parasites and this type of mode of
nutrition is called parasitic nutrition. For example Cuscuta, tick etc.

Nutrition in Plants

Nutrition in Plants: Green plants prepare their own food. They make food in the presence
of sunlight. Sunlight provides energy’, carbon dioxide and water are the raw materials and
chloroplast is the site where food is made.

Photosynthesis: The process by which green plants prepare food is called photosynthesis.

 During this process, the solar energy is converted into chemical energy and
carbohydrates are formed.
 Green leaves are the main site of photosynthesis.
 The green portion of the plant contains a pigment chloroplast, chlorophyll (green
pigment).
 The whole process of photosynthesis can be shown by the following equation:

Raw Materials for Photosynthesis:

 Sunlight
 Chlorophyll: Sunlight absorbed by chloroplast
 CO2: Enters through stomata, and oxygen (O2) is released as a byproduct through
stomata on the leaf.
 Water: Water + dissolved minerals like nitrogen, phosphorous etc., are taken up by
the roots from the soil.
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How do raw materials for photosynthesis become available to the plant?
 Water comes from the soil, through the xylem tissue in roots and stems.
 Carbon dioxide comes in the leaves through stomata.

Site of Photosynthesis: Chloroplast in the leaf. Chloroplast contains chlorophyll (green

pigment)
Main Events of Photosynthesis:
 Absorption of light energy by chlorophyll.
 Conversion of light energy into chemical energy + splitting (breaking) of water into
hydrogen and oxygen.
 Reduction of CO2 to carbohydrates.
 Sunlight activates chlorophyll, which leads to splitting of the water molecule.
 The hydrogen, released by the splitting of a water molecule is utilized for the reduction
of carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates.
 Oxygen is the by-product of photosynthesis.
 Carbohydrate is subsequently converted into starch and is stored in leaves and other
storage parts.
 The splitting of water molecules is a part of the light reaction.

Stomata:

 Stomata: These are tiny pores present in the

epidermis of leaf or stem through which gaseous
exchange and transpiration occur.

Functions of stomata

 Exchange of gases, O2 and CO2.

 Loses a large amount of water (water vapour) during transpiration.

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Opening and closing of stomatal pores:

 The opening and closing of stomatal pores are controlled by the turgidity of guard cells.
 When guard cells uptake water from surrounding cells, they swell to become a turgid
body, which enlarges the pore in between (Stomatal Opening).
 While, when water is released, they become flaccid shrinking to close the pore
(Stomatal Closing).

Significance of Photosynthesis:

 Photosynthesis is the main way through which solar energy is made available for
different living beings.
 Green plants are the main producers of food in the ecosystem. All other organisms
directly or indirectly depend on green plants for food.
 The process of photosynthesis also helps in
maintaining the balance of carbon dioxide and
oxygen in the air.

Nutrition in Amoeba

 Amoeba is a unicellular animal which follows

the holozoic mode of nutrition.
 In holozoic nutrition, the digestion of food
follows after the ingestion of food. Thus,
digestion takes place inside the body of the
organism.
 Holozoic nutrition happens in five steps, viz.
ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation and
egestion.

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Steps of Holozoic Nutrition:
 Ingestion: The process of taking in the food is called ingestion.
 Digestion: The process of breaking complex food substances into simple molecules is
called digestion. Simple molecules, thus obtained, can be absorbed by the body.
 Absorption: The process of absorption of digested food is called absorption.
 Assimilation: The process of utilization of digested food, for energy and for growth
and repair is called assimilation.
 Egestion: The process of removing undigested food from the body is called egestion.

Amoeba is a unicellular animal which follows the holozoic mode of nutrition. The cell
membrane of amoeba keeps on protruding into pseudopodia. Amoeba surrounds a food
particle with pseudopodia and makes a food vacuole. The food vacuole contains food
particle and water. Digestive enzymes are secreted in the food vacuole and digestion takes
place. After that, digested food is absorbed from the food vacuole. Finally, the food vacuole
moves near the cell membrane and undigested food is expelled out.

Nutrition in Humans

Nutrition in complex multicellular organisms like the human whose digestive system is
complex. The human digestive system is responsible for the breakdown of complex food
substances into constituent simpler substances that can be utilised by the cells of the body.

The human digestive system is composed of two main parts - the alimentary canal and
the associated digestive glands.
Alimentary canal:
The alimentary canal is a long tubular passage of mucous membrane and muscles which
extends about 8.3 metre from the mouth to the anus. The alimentary canal composed of the
following parts:
1. Buccal cavity or mouth
2. Pharynx
3. Oesophagus
4. Stomach
5. Small intestine
6. Large intestine

The parts of human digestive system

The associated digestive glands include:

 Salivary gland
 Gastric gland
 Liver
 Pancreas
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BUCCAL CAVITY OR MOUTH
The human mouth consists of two parts that include the vestibule and the oral/buccal cavity.
The buccal cavity is the interior part of the mouth which has the following parts:

1. Palate - It is the roof of the buccal cavity. The anterior

part of the palate is called the hard palate whereas, the
posterior part of the palate is smooth and called the soft
palate. The uvula is the hinder free part of the soft palate,
which hangs down freely as a flap.

2. Tongue - It is a muscular organ (contains voluntary muscles) covered with mucous

membrane which forms the floor of the buccal cavity. The tongue is attached to the floor
of the mouth by a connective tissue fold called lingual frenulum. It has gustatory
receptors that aid in the perception of taste.
The tongue has four taste zones - sweet, salt, bitter and sour. It aids in the chewing and
swallowing the food. The tongue also rolls and turns the food to ensure that saliva is
adequately mixed with the food. It also helps in the process of speech.
3. Teeth - Humans have heterodont dentition (teeth differ in appearance throughout the
mouth). Teeth in humans is diphyodont, i.e., have two sets of teeth -
(i) Deciduous or milk teeth and (ii) Permanent teeth.
Teeth are embedded in the sockets of the jawbones. There are four kinds of teeth:
i. Incisors - specialized for cutting and biting food
ii. Canines - specialized for piercing and tearing food
iii. Premolars - specialized for crushing and coarse grinding food
iv. Molars - specialized for fine grinding of food
Parts of the teeth:
A tooth consists of three regions:
1. Crown - It projects above the gums. Crown allows the breakdown of food, which is
protected by the tooth's enamel.
Enamel is the hardest substance which covers
the dentine (it's also the hardest material in
the Kingdom Animalia.). Dentine is the hard,
ivory-like substance that lines the pulp cavity.
2. Neck - Neck is surrounded by gum. It serves
as a joint between the gum and the crown of
the tooth.
3. Root - It is embedded in the bone. The root
anchors the teeth allows the blood, nerve supply entry into the teeth.
Did you know what causes dental caries?
Tooth decay occurs when bacteriaact on the sugars to produce acids that attack the tooth surface
and demineralises the enamel.
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Tooth decay begins when acids are produced by the bacteria that acts on sugars
which soften and demineralises the enamel. Bacteria in the mouth creates acid through
the oxidation of sugar present in food particles in the mouth.
Masses of bacterial cells grow together with the food particles that bind to the
teeth to form dental plaque.
Since the plaque covers the teeth, saliva cannot
neutralise the acid produced on the tooth surface.
Thus, brushing teeth after ingestion of food removes
the plaques before the bacteria produces acid. However,
if untreated, microorganisms can invade the pulp that
causes severe toothache, infection and inflammation.

How to prevent tooth decay?

1. Rinsing mouth thoroughly with clean water after meal reduces the bacterial load.
2. Brushing teeth twice a day reduces the bacterial load and plaque.
3. Dental floss must be used to remove the trapped food particles.
4. Avoid using dirty fingers or unwashed objects in the mouth.
PHARYNX:
The pharynx is divided into three parts:
a. Nasopharynx - Lies behind the nasal cavities and
above the soft palate. The auditory tube or eustachian
tube connects the nasopharynx with the ear.
b. Oropharynx - Lies behind the buccal cavity.
c. Laryngopharynx - Inferior part of the pharynx. It is
a common passage for food and air.
OESOPHAGUS:
Oesophagus also called the food pipe, is about 25 cm long. It
is a highly muscular tube that is lined by stratified
squamous epithelium. The oesophagus opening is called
the gullet. It lies behind the trachea and the heart. It is
composed of three parts:
a. Cervical part , b. Thoracic part, c. Abdominal part
It passes through the diaphragm and opens into the
stomach.
The oesophagus transfers the food from the pharynx to the
stomach by peristaltic movements.
Peristaltic movements are the contractions and
expansion of the oesophageal smooth muscles to push
the bolus along the gut.

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STOMACH:
It is a J-shaped sac or organ, which is the widest organ of the alimentary canal. The
longitudinal folds of the stomach are formed of the mucous membrane. The stomach
contains peptic or chief cells, oxyntic cells and mucous cells.
The stomach has four parts:
a. Cardiac part - Present near the heart and thus called cardiac
part. The gastroesophageal sphincter lies in the opening
between the esophagus and stomach.
b. Fundus - Fundus is commonly filled with air or gas.
c. Body - The body is the main part of the stomach.
d. Pyloric part - The posterior part of the stomach, which is divided into the pyloric
antrum and pyloric canal. Pyloric canal opens into the duodenum. The pyloric
sphincter is a valve that guards the opening between the stomach and the duodenum,
which functions to permit the partially digested food (bolus) to enter the duodenum and
leave the stomach.
Functions of the stomach:
a. Stores the food for 3−4hrs. Churns, disintegrates the food and mixes the food with
the gastric juice.
b. Partial digestion of proteins and fats takes place.
c. Secretes enzymes - pepsinogen, prorenin, gastric lipase and gastric amylase.
d. Secretes hydrochloric acid (HCl), making the medium inside the stomach acidic. An
acidic medium is required for gastric enzymes to work.
e. Pepsin secreted inside the stomach partially digests the protein.
f. Secretes mucus by the stomach walls which protects the inner lining of the
stomach from getting damaged from HCl.
g. Secretes hormone gastrin.
h. The stomach's walls absorb alcohol, aspirin, small amounts of sugar, and water.

SMALL INTESTINE:
The longest part of the alimentary canal but has a small diameter. The length of the small
intestine various from one organism to another based on the type of food it consumes. It is
about 6.25m in length.

Example: Herbivores like a cow, deer that consume grass have a longer
intestine as cellulosein grass takes longer to digest. On the other hand, meat is
easier to digest, and thus carnivores like lion, tiger have shorter small intestine.
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The small intestine is composed of three parts:
a. Duodenum - It is C-shaped and is as long as the
breadth of 12 fingers. It contains foliate villi and
mainly absorbs iron.
b. Jejunum - Middle part of the small intestine,
which is thick-walled and more vascular.
c. Ileum - Longest part of the small intestine, which is thinner than the jejunum. It is
about 3.5m long. The ileum contains lymphatic nodules called Payer's patches that
produce lymphocytes (WBC types).
Both ileum and jejunum are highly coiled. Payer's patches are the distinguishing
feature of the ileum. Villi (finger-like projections) are present in the small intestine except
in the Payer's patches. Villi increase the surface area of the small intestine.
Each of the villus is covered with epithelium that contains lymph capillary and blood
capillaries. The small intestine completely digests the proteins, carbohydrates, fats and
nucleic acids. The absorption of nutrients into the blood and lymph occurs here.
Intestinal Villi
The presence of blood capillaries in villi takes the absorbed
nutrients to various parts of the body, which is utilised for
obtaining ATP from glucose (glucose is oxidized
to CO2, H2O and ATP), the building of new tissues and
repairing of old tissues. In addition, the small intestine
secretes digestive enzymes, cholecystokinin, secretin, enterocrinin, enterogastrone.

LARGE INTESTINE:
The large intestine diameter is larger than the small intestine. It is about 1.5metres in
length and is divided into four parts:
a. Caecum and vermiform appendix - Caecum is a pouch-like structure whose walls
contain prominent lymphoid tissue. The vermiform appendix is an outgrowth of the
caecum. It is a vestigial part that is a slightly coiled blind tube.
b. Colon- Caecum leads to the colon and is divided into four regions:
(i) ascending colon
(ii) transverse colon
(iii) descending colon
(iv) sigmoid colon
Ascending colon is the part of the colon that is the shortest. The colon has small
pouches called haustra.

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c. Rectum- The sigmoid colon leads into the rectum. It comprises the last 20centimetres of
the digestive tract and terminates in the long anal canal. The rectum acts as temporary
storage of the undigested food.

d. Anus - Anus is the terminal part of the large intestine and the alimentary canal.
The undigested, semi-solid waste is expelled out from the body as faeces through the
anus. This is called egestion.
Faeces are expelled from time to time from the anus out of the body. The anus has
an internal anal sphincter composed of smooth muscle fibres and an external anal
sphincter comprised of voluntary muscle fibres.

The function of the large intestine includes the absorption of water and the elimination of
solid wastes. In addition, some amount of vitamin K and vitamin B complex are
manufactured by bacteria in the large intestine.

The digestive glands present in human being. They include the salivary glands, gastric
glands, liver, pancreas and intestinal glands.

1. Salivary glands:
Salivary glands discharge their secretion into the buccal cavity. There are three pairs of
salivary glands:
a. Parotid glands - largest salivary glands situated near the ears.
b. Sublingual glands - smallest salivary glands located beneath
the tongue. Their ducts are called sublingual ducts that open into
the floor of the buccal cavity.
c. Submandibular glands - It is also called submaxillary glands.
They are medium-sized salivary glands located at the lower jaw.
The ducts of the submandibular glands are called the Wharton's duct.
Parotid salivary glands secrete most of the α amylase or salivary amylase (ptyalin). In
addition, sub-lingual and submandibular salivary glands secrete salivary amylase & mucus.
The fluids secreted by the salivary glands comprise saliva. It is slightly acidic with a pH
of 6.8. Saliva is a mixture of water, electrolytes, mucus, serous fluids, salivary amylase
and lysozyme (antibacterial agent). α amylase breaks down the starch into maltose.

2. Gastric glands:
The epithelium of the stomach forms gastric glands. There are three major types of gastric
glands. These include:
a. Chief cells or peptic cells: They are also called zymogenic cells. They secrete gastric
digestive enzymes called proenzymes or zymogens, pepsinogen and prorenin. They also
secrete small amounts of gastric amylase and gastric lipase.

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b. Oxyntic cells or parietal cells: They are large and
numerous. Oxyntic cells secrete HCl.
c. Mucous cells or goblet cells: They present throughout
the epithelium. They secrete gastric juice, which is
composed of proenzymes - pepsinogen (propepsin) and
prorenin. They also secrete enzymes gastric lipase and
gastric amylase, mucus and HCl.

3. Liver:
The liver is the largest gland of the body. It lies in the abdominal cavity on the right side,
just below the diaphragm. The liver can be divided into two lobes:
1. Left lobe
2. Right lobe
The liver contains fat storage cells. The liver cells called hepatocytes secrete bile. The
liver also plays a role in deamination, excretion, glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis and
detoxification. It also secretes heparin which is an anticoagulant.
The gall bladder is a pear-shaped sac-like structure that is attached to the posterior
surface of the liver by connective tissue. The bile secreted by the liver is stored in the gall
bladder.
Bile is a greenish mixture consisting of bile salts, bile pigments, phospholipids,
bilirubin, electrolytes and water. Bile salts help digest fats in the small intestine by
the emulsification (large fat droplets are broken down into smaller globules) of fats.
Functions of Bile:
1. Bile neutralizes HCl of the chyme.
2. Bile absorbs fat and fat-soluble vitamins.
3. Bile activates the enzyme lipase.
4. Bile increases the peristalsis of the intestine.

4. Pancreas:
The pancreas is a lobulated, greyish-pink gland located
posterior to the stomach in the abdominal cavity. The pancreas has two parts:
1. Exocrine part - Secretes pancreatic juice, which is alkaline and has a pH of 8.4.
Pancreatic juice contains proenzymes - trypsinogen,
chymotrypsinogen and procarboxypeptidase, and the
enzyme pancreatic lipase. Pancreatic juice aids in the
digestion of proteins, starch, fats and nucleic acids.
2. Endocrine part - Consists of groups of islets of
Langerhans. It consists of alpha (α) cells, beta (β) cells
and delta (δ) cells.
The pancreas plays both endocrine and exocrine functions
in our body and known as a heterocrine organ.

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5. Intestinal glands:
Intestinal glands are formed by the surface epithelium of the small intestine. The glands
secrete digestive enzymes and mucus. Mucus protects the walls of the duodenum.
Digestion of most of the nutrients takes place.

Intestinal glands secrete intestinal juice with a pH of 7.8, which contains enzymes - maltase,
sucrase, lactase, aminopeptidase, dipeptidases, nucleotidases, nucleosidases and intestinal
lipase. Digestion of foods is completed in the small intestine.

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