Grade 10

Digestion
Page 4.19
 Can you
remember the 5
processes of
nutrition?
 1. Ingestion

✦ The intake of food

into the alimentary
canal by biting,
chewing and
swallowing.
 2. Digestion
✦ Nutrients must be in a
simple, soluble form in
order to be absorbed by the
blood, and transported to
the cells for assimilation
✦ Complex, insoluble food
particles are broken down
into simple, soluble
nutrients.
✦ This can be done by
mechanical / physical
digestion, or chemical
digestion
 2.1 Mechanical digestion
✦ Also known as physical digestion
✦ Food is broken down into smaller particles
✦ Smaller food particles have a larger surface area for digestive enzymes to break the food down
further into simple molecules
✦ Includes:
- Chewing (mastication): food is broken down into smaller particles by the teeth and tongue
- Bolus formation: chewed food is mixed with saliva, and rolled into a food ball (bolus) using the
tongue. The swallowing process starts with the tongue pushing the bolus through the pharynx,
after which it goes to the oesophagus
- Churning movements: take place by the contraction and relaxation of the muscles in the stomach
wall. Food particles are broken down further for effective enzyme action, and are mixed
thoroughly with gastric juice.
- Peristaltic movements: this is the rhythmic contraction and relaxation of the muscles in the wall
of the alimentary canal. It helps to move the food particles forward through the canal.
2.1 Mechanical digestion (continued)
 2.2 Chemical digestion
✦ Breaking down of large, insoluble molecules in food into smaller, soluble molecules by the
addition of water
✦ Catabolic reaction called hydrolysis
✦ Hydrolytic reactions CANNOT occur without the help of enzymes
✦ Enzymes catalyse the reaction
 Role of water during digestion
✦ Acts as a lubricant and facilitates
chewing and swallowing
✦ Acts as a solvent for digested
food
✦ Transports digested food
✦ The medium in which digestive
reactions occur
✦ Reagent for hydrolysis
 Enzymes involved in chemical digestion
Example pH
Place of Digestive End
Substrate Enzyme
production juice product

 
Salivary amylase Saliva
Mouth
Pancreatic Pancreatic

7,2 – 8,0
Pancreas
Carbohydrates Carbohydrases amylase juice Glucose
Maltase
Intestinal
Sucrase Small intestines
juice
Lactase
Pepsin
1,5 - 2 Stomach Gastric juice
Renin Amino
Proteins Proteases
Pancreatic Acids
Trypsin 8 Pancreas
juice
Lipids (Fats) Pancreas Pancreatic
juice
  Intestinal Glycerol
Lipase 8 Small Intestine juice & Fatty
Acids
 Absorption
✦ After digestion, food is
now in a soluble form and
ready to be absorbed into
the bloodstream
✦ Most of the absorption of
food takes place in the
small intestine (structurally
adapted to allow for
maximum absorption)
✦ Soluble nutrients are
absorbed through the villi
 Recap: how is the villus structurally
adapted for absorption
✦ Columnar epithelium surrounding the villus is 1 layer thick for fast and easy diffusion
✦ Richly supplied with capillaries for the absorption of glucose, amino acids, vitamins,
mineral salts and water
✦ Central lacteal for fat absorption
✦ Goblet cells in between the columnar epithelium secrete mucus (medium in which
nutrients can dissolve)
✦ Columnar epithelium has many mitochondria which provide energy for active
transport
✦ Microvilli on the columnar epithelium increase surface area
 Transport
Active transport:
✦ Requires energy
✦ Sometimes carrier molecules can help
✦ Occurs against the concentration gradient (from low to
high)

Passive transport:
✦ Occurs spontaneously
✦ Doesn’t need energy
✦ Occurs down the concentration gradient (from high to
low)
 Absorption process
✦ End products of digestion (Glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, glycerol) as
well as vitamins, mineral salts and water are absorbed by the villi in the
small intestine

✦ Glucose (end product of carbohydrate digestion) is actively absorbed against

the concentration gradient into the blood capillaries of the villi
✦ Amino acids (end product of protein digestion) are also actively absorbed
against the concentration gradient into the capillaries
✦ Glycerol & Fatty Acids (end products of lipid digestion) are absorbed by
diffusion into the lacteals aided by bile salts
 Absorption process (continued)
✦ Vitamins – fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) are passively absorbed into the
capillaries, while water soluble vitamins (B, C) are passively absorbed or aided by
carrier molecules

✦ Mineral Salts – both actively and passively absorbed into the capillaries

✦ Water – absorbed into the capillaries by osmosis

✦ TAKE NOTE: large amounts of water, certain vitamins and mineral salts are also
absorbed in the colon
 Transport of absorbed nutrients
✦ Glucose, amino acids, vitamins and mineral salts, and water are absorbed through
the blood capillaries in the villi
✦ Capillaries join to form larger veins that eventually open into the hepatic portal vein
✦ Hepatic portal vein transports absorbed nutrients to the liver:
- most of the glucose is converted to glycogen and stored
- excess amino acids undergo deamination to form urea and glucose
✦ Urea is transported to the kidneys (excreted as part of urine)
✦ Remaining glucose and amino acids leave the liver via the hepatic veins and are
transported in the inferior vena cava to the heart and to the rest of the body.
✦ A large proportion of glucose is transported to the tissues (especially muscles), where
it is broken down by cellular respiration to carbon dioxide and water with the
release of energy.
Transport of absorbed nutrients (continued)
✦ Fatty acids and glycerol are
absorbed by the lacteals
✦ The lacteals unite and form larger
lymphatic vessels that eventually
open into the thoracic duct
✦ Fatty acids and glycerol in the
thoracic duct enter the blood
system at the left subclavian vein
and are transported to the rest of the
body via the heart
 Assimilation & Egestion
✦ Body cells absorb the required nutrients from the blood
✦ Use nutrients to build compounds and cell structures

✦ Large amounts of water are absorbed from the semi-

solid waste in the colon.
✦ This reduces the liquidity of the content.
✦ Undigested and indigestible waste (faeces) is stored
temporarily in the rectum
✦ Muscle contractions of the rectum and relaxation of the
circular muscles of the anus cause the faeces to be
expelled to the outside.
✦ Also known as defecation
 Roughage
✦ Indigestible substances
found in plant material
(cellulose, lignin, pectin)
✦ Essential for effective
functioning of the digestive
system in that it:

- promotes peristalsis
(decreases transit time)
- prevents constipation
and hemorrhoids
- Softens faeces to
facilitate defecation