The Grade 10

Digestive
System
Animal Nutrition (4.1.4)
 Let’s recap
✦ Autotroph vs Heterotroph
 Herbivore
✦ Feed on plant material
✦ Eat a lot of cellulose (main component in plane cell walls), which is difficult to digest.
✦ Some have micro-organisms in their small intestine to digest cellulose.
✦ Eat a lot of food because of the low energy value of plants.
✦ So, they produce a lot of faeces too because they eat so much indigestible plant material.

Specializations:
✦ Sharp incisors to cut plant material
✦ Large premolars and molars to grind the food.
✦ Long, specialized alimentary canal
✦ Some are known as ruminants (have a stomach with 4 chambers).
 Carnivore
✦ Feed on other animals, animal material (meat)

Specializations:
✦ Well-adapted teeth tat are able to hold a piece of meat and tear it.
✦ Sharp pointed incisors to bite food
✦ Long, strong canines to pierce prey and to kill and tear it apart.
✦ Premolars and molars are pointed with sharp edges to cut food
✦ Shorter alimentary canal than herbivores because proteins are easier to digest.
✦ Stomach has an acidic medium that can easily digest proteins
✦ Eat less than herbivores: proteins have a much higher energy value
✦ Less food = less faeces
 Omnivore
✦ Eat both plant and animal material

Specializations:
✦ Teeth are not as specialized as herbivores’ and carnivores’ teeth
✦ Incisors to bite off food
✦ Canines to tear off food
✦ Flat premolars and molars to grind food
✦ Digestion is similar to herbivores and carnivores
✦ Amounts of faeces depends on diet
 Processes in Nutrition
There are 5 main processes:

1. Ingestion
2. Digestion
3. Absorption
4. Assimilation
5. Egestion
Ingestion

The intake of food

into the alimentary
canal by
biting, chewing &
swallowing
 Digestion
✦ food undergoes mechanical and chemical digestion
(complex insoluble -> simple soluble)
 Absorption
✦ end products of
digestion are absorbed
into the bloodstream

✦ Occurs when the soluble

nutrients are taken up by
the blood stream in the
intestines​
 Assimilation
✦ cells absorb nutrients from the bloodstream (use
it to build new cell structures and compounds)
 Egestion
✦ undigested remains are removed from the body
in the form of faeces (from the anus)
 Why
do we
need
food?
 We need food because…

✦ Provides energy – carbohydrate and fat

ingestion needed

✦ Growth and repair of damaged tissues –

protein ingestion needed

✦ Regulation of body processes (e.g.,

cellular respiration & excretion) –
vitamins, water and mineral salts needed
 Modes of Animal Nutrition
Herbivore
Feed on plant material
Lots of food is eaten because plant
material has a low energy value.
A lot more faeces is produced
because they eat a lot of indigestible
material
Sharp incisors, large premolars and
molars
Very long alimentary canal for
because plants are difficult to digest
Carnivore Omnivore
Feed on animal material (meat) Feed on both plant and animal
material
Eat less food because meat has a
higher energy value.
Less faeces is produced Amount of faeces produced depends
on diet
Sharp, pointed incisors, long canines, Incisors, canines, flat premolars and
sharp premolars and molars molars
Shorter alimentary canal because
proteins are easier to digest
Human
Nutrition
Grade 10
 The human digestive system

Alimentary canal Accessory organs

A long, tubular structure that extends throughout Assist in the digestion process.
the body.
✦ Tongue
✦ Mouth and mouth cavity ✦ Salivary glands
✦ Pharynx ✦ Pancreas
✦ Oesophagus ✦ Liver
✦ Stomach ✦ Gall bladder
✦ Small intestine
✦ Large intestine
✦ Anus
The
human
digestive
system
The alimentary
canal:
mouth and
mouth cavity
 Functions: Mouth & Mouth Cavity
✦ Receives food
✦ Begins the process of
mechanical digestion by
breaking down larger particles
of food into smaller particles
and mixing it with saliva
The alimentary canal: Pharynx
✦ Back of the mouth cavity
✦ Leads to 2 openings:
1. Oesophagus
2. Trachea

Function
Common passage for food and air from the mouth to the
oesophagus and trachea, respectively.
 Alimentary canal: Oesophagus
✦ Hollow, muscular tube that connect
pharynx to stomach
✦ Located behind the trachea

Function
✦ Muscles in the walls of the
oesophagus are responsible for
peristaltic movements, which
pushes the food bolus forward
 Side note: Food Bolus & Peristalsis
✦ Round ball of
chewed food that
is mixed with
saliva in the
mouth cavity and
pushed in the
direction of the
oesophagus
during
swallowing.
Alimentary canal: Stomach
✦ Sickle-shaped, sac-like organ located just
below the diaphragm
✦ Wall is thick and muscular
✦ At the top, the opening from the oesophagus
is closed by the cardiac sphincter
✦ At the bottom, the opening to the small
intestine is closed by the pyloric sphincter
✦ When food gets to the stomach, the stomach
mucosa stars to produce the hormone
gastrin
 Functions: Stomach
✦ Muscular walls cause churning
movements
✦ These movements assist with
physical/mechanical digestion and
ensures that the food is mixed
with the gastric juices
✦ Glands in the stomach wall secrete
gastric juices for digestion.
✦ Food leaves the stomach in a
semi-solid state: chyme
 Alimentary Canal: Small intestine
✦ Long, muscular tube about 5m-6m long
✦ Consists of 3 parts:

1. Duodenum:
• first and shortest part of the small intestine
• The common bile duct from the gall bladder and the pancreatic
duct from the pancreas open as a joint tube in the duodenum
2. Jejunum:
• Middle part
3. Ileum
• Last and longest part
• Joins the first part of the large intestine (caecum)
• Opening between the ileum and the caecum is closed by the
ileo-caecal sphincter (ring muscle)
Alimentary canal: Small intestine (continued)
The wall of the small intestine consists of 4 layers:

1. Serous membrane: outer connective tissue layer

2. Muscle layer: consists of:

✦ Outer layer of longitudinal muscles
✦ Inner layer of circular muscles

3. Submucosa: layer of connective tissue with blood vessels, lymph vessels, nerves and
glands

4. Mucosa: innermost layer ; has transverse folds ; millions of finger-like projections

called villi present on the folds
 Cross-
section
through the
small
intestines
 Small intestine: Structure of the villus
✦ Surrounded by a single layer of columnar epithelial cells
✦ Goblet cells are present in the columnar epithelium, and these secrete
mucus.
✦ Microvilli (microscopic finger-like projections) on surface of columnar
epithelium.
✦ In the center of the villus, a capillary lymph vessel is present called the
lacteal.
✦ An arteriole brings blood to the villus and forms a capillary network that
surrounds the lacteal.
✦ The capillaries join together and leave the villus as a venule.
✦ At the base of villi, there are small cavaties called crypts of Lieberkühn.
✦ Brunner glands occur in the submucosa of the duodenum
Structure of a
Villus
 Function: Small Intestine
✦ Layer of muscles in the small intestine causes peristaltic
movements, which moves chyme forward and ensures that it
becomes thoroughly mixed with digestive juices.

✦ Glands in the duodenal walls (crypts of Lieberkühn and Brunner

glands) secrete digestive juices (intestinal juice), while plays a role
in digestion.

✦ The small intestine has millions of villi to increase the surface area
for the absorption of digested nutrients.
 The alimentary canal: the large intestine (colon)
Consists of 3 parts:

1. Caecum: sac-like structure where it

joins the small intestine ; a small
appendage is attached here – the
appendix.

2. Colon: largest part of the small intestine

; consists of an ascending, transverse
and descending colon

3. Rectum: last muscular portion of the

colon ; ends with an opening - anus
 Function: Large intestine
✦ Secretes a lot of mucus to aid
digestion
✦ Water and useful substances
(e.g., certain vitamins and bile
salts) are absorbed from the
semi-solid waste in the colon.
✦ Undigested waste (faeces) is
stored in the colon temporarily
before it is egested
 Accessory organs: tongue
✦ Muscular organ
✦ Back of the tongue is attached to the mouth floor
✦ Small projections present called papillae (taste buds
occur here)

Functions
✦ Taste buds (taste organ)
✦ Helps with the chewing process (presses food against
hard palate and between teeth)
✦ Ensures that chewed food mixes with saliva
✦ Rolls the food into a bolus (food ball)
✦ Helps with the swallowing process – pushes bolus
towards opening in throat
 Accessory organs: Teeth
Incisors Bite and cut off
food
Canines Hold food in place
and tear it off
Premolars Chew and grind
food
Molars Chew and grind
food
 Teeth: continued
✦ Human dental formula:
✦ One half of the upper jaw
has 2 incisors, 1 canine, 2
premolars, 3 molars
✦ Corresponding lower jaw
is the same
✦ Complete upper jaw: 8 x 2
= 16 teeth in total
✦ Complete set is therefore
32 teeth
 Salivary Glands
 Open into the mouth cavity
 3 pairs of salivary glands exist:
- Parotid Salivary glands: below
the ears
- Submandibular salivary glands:
in the lower jaw
- Sublingual salivary glands: under
the tongue
 Salivary glands (continued)
Function:
 Produce and secrete saliva via ducts which open into the mouth cavity.
 Salivary glands are exocrine glands that release their secretions into the mouth cavity.
 Saliva helps to:
- Keep the mouth and throat lubricated and comfortable
- Moistens food to assist in swallowing
- Contains an enzyme (amylase) which helps the stomach break down starch
 Pancreas
 tongue- or leaf-shaped gland located just below the stomach
 consists of 2 types of cells:
- normal pancreatic cells: secrete the digestive juice called pancreatic juice
- islets of Langerhans: secrete 2 hormones (insulin & glucagon)
 Pancreatic juice is transported via the pancreatic duct, which joins the common bile duct (from the gall bladder)
 These two ducts enter the duodenum of the small intestine as one duct
 mucosa of the small intestine secretes a hormone called secretin when the acidic chyme reaches the duodenum.
Secretin is transported in the blood and stimulates the pancreatic cells to produce the digestive juice, pancreatic
juice.
 Thus, the pancreas is considered to be both an endocrine and an exocrine gland.
 Pancreas
Exocrine: release their secretions via ducts
Endocrine: ductless glands that release their secretions into the bloodstream.

Exocrine function of the pancreas

Normal pancreatic cells secrete pancreatic juice into the pancreatic duct
(which opens into the duodenum)
 
Endocrine function of the pancreas:
Islets of Langerhans secrete insulin and glucagon (hormones) directly into the
bloodstream
 Pancreas (continued)
 secretes pancreatic juice containing enzymes, which plays a role in digestion
 secretes insulin and glucagon, which control the blood glucose levels of the
body
 Liver
Largest gland in the body
•Located just below the diaphragm
•Consists of 2 lobes:
•Large right lobe
•Smaller left lobe
•Each lobe is made up of tiny lobules which are made up of
liver cells
•Each liver cell produces bile, which is transported away
from the liver via the common hepatic duct
•The common hepatic duct branches into the cystic duct,
which transports the bile to the gall bladder for storage
•The common hepatic duct and the cystic ducts join to form
the common bile duct
•The common bile duct joins the pancreatic duct and
opens into the duodenum.
 Liver (continued)
Function:
 Produces bile (which is stored in the gall bladder)
 Glucose is converted into glycogen, which the liver stores
 Excess glucose is converted into fat, and stored
 Excess amino acids are broken down to form urea and glucose in the liver
through a process called deamination
 The liver is a detoxifying organ (absorbs and neutralises certain toxins –
alcohol)
 Vitamins A, D, E, K and B12 are stored in the liver
 Synthesises heparin (prevents blood clotting)
 Gall bladder
 Muscular sac
 Located between liver lobes
 Contracts to release bile when stimulated
 Bile moves along the cystic duct, common bile duct, and common bile and
pancreatic duct into the duodenum

Function:

 Stores bile
 Releases bile when stimulated (when food is eaten, the gall bladder contracts
and releases stored bile into the duodenum to help break down the fats)
anomaly