HETEROTROPHIC NUTRITION

Steps of heterotrophic nutrition

 Ingestion – taking in of food
 Digestion – breaking of food particles in smaller pieces
 Absorption – uptake of digested food by the cells
 Assimilation- utilization of the digested food in the
cells
 Egestion- removal of undigested food
Heterotrophic Nutrition-Amoeba

Amoeba senses food and sends pseudopodia towards

it The food is engulfed in a food vacuole
Enzymes are poured into the food vacuole which
breaks down food into useful and non useful forms
 Useful food is taken into the cytoplasm of the amoeba
The absorbed food is
used to release energy,
for growth etc

The food vacuole with

non useful food goes
near the cell membrane
5
and ruptures to remove
waste
Paramoecium
It is a unicellular organism with a definite shape and a
mouth like part to take in food.
Nutrition in Human Beings
 1 BUCCAL CAVITY
BUCCAL CAVITY

TEETH TONGUE SALIVARY

GLANDS
Help in chewing 1. Help in
food / breaking it mixing of the
food with Produce salivary amylase
into smaller which help in breakdown
pieces saliva
of carbohydrates into
2. help in simple sugars
swallowing
 2. Oesophagus/ Food Pipe
• Broken food is called as bolus and is
transferred to the stomach through
the food pipe
• Bolus moves in by regular
contraction and relaxation of the
food pipe
• This movement of the food pipe is
called as peristalsis
• No digestion of food occurs here
 3. STOMACH

• Stomach has sphincter muscles at

both the ends to allow easy passage
of Bolus
• Digestion of food proceeds here
 Cells of the inner lining of the stomach
release

HCl
Mucus Pepsin

1. Makes the medium

acidic
2. Kills the microbes
3. Acidic medium is Protects the 1.Acts only in acidic medium
required for inner lining of 2 digests proteins and breaks
functioning of the stomach them into peptones
Pepsin from HCl
 4. Small intestine
• Duodenum is the part of the small
intestine which receives secretions
from liver and pancreas
Liver
• secretes bile juice
• Stores bile juice in the gall
bladder
• Bile juice makes the medium
alkaline
• Bile juice helps in
emulsification of fats

Alkaline medium is required for action of enzymes

secreted by the pancreas
Emulsification means breakdown of large fat molecules
into smaller molecules to increase its surface area
Pancreas
• Releases pancreatic juices
which helps in digestion of
simple sugars(coming from
the mouth), peptones-coming
from the stomach and
emulsified fats coming from
the duodenum
• Acts in alkaline medium

• Pancreatic juices include –

1. pancreatic amylase- acts on simple sugar (CARBOHYDRATE)
2. pancreatic lipase – acts on emulsified fats (FATS)
3. trypsin – acts on the peptones and form peptides
(PROTEINS)
• Initial part of the small intestine help in complete breakdown of
food into simplest components
• This is done by the intestinal juices
• Carbohydrates are completely digested into glucose
• Proteins are completely digested into amino acids
• Fats are completely digested into fatty acids and glycerol

• Latter part of the small intestine helps in absorption of digested

food.
• It has many villi- to increase the surface area of absorption
5. Large intestine

Large intestine is
involved in absorption
of water and minerals

6. Rectum and anus

It is the part where undigested food is stored for a short
period of time. It is removed from the body through anus.
Let us summarize!
 Steps of Holozoic Nutrition
STEP 1- Ingestion-
Done with the help of hands and mouth.
Mouth has teeth which help to, bite food. It has saliva
which wets the food and tongue which mixes the food
with saliva for proper ingestion
Food moves from mouth
to the stomach with the
help of peristaltic
movements in the
oesophagus
STEP2- Digestion
 Two types of breakdown of food takes place in the alimentary canal.
I. Physical digestion- when food is broken down mechanically
a. In the mouth with the help of teeth which grind and chew food

b. In the stomach smooth muscles churn the unchewed food to a

fine paste

II. Chemical digestion- food breaks down with the help of enzymes
1. Digestion of Carbohydrates start in mouth
a. Mouth has salivary amylase (ptyalin) which acts on
Starch----- Simple sugar (dextrin/maltose)
As the semi digested starch reaches the stomach with amylase,
the acid present in the stomach denatures (destroy) it. The acid
kills the undesirable flora and fauna, and make the medium
acidic. Digestion of proteins takes place by the PEPSIN
As acidic food passes into the small intestine bile juice makes it
alkaline and emulsifies FATS.
Pancreatic juices- Pancreatic amylase
Semi digested starch ---- glucose (complete digestion)
2. Digestion of Proteins start in stomach. Pepsin released from
gastric glands of stomach acts on
Protein ----- Peptones and peptides
These peptones and peptides are acted upon by the trypsin
enzyme in the small intestine
Peptones and peptides ---- Amino acids (complete digestion)
2. Digestion of Fats start in the small intestine, only after the fat
molecules have been emulsified with the help of bile juice, which
reach the small intestine by the bile duct can the enzyme lipase act
on it.
Fats---- Fatty acids + glycerol

STEP3- Absorbtion

Absorption of food takes place in the lower

part of the small intestine.
It is Long and food moves slowly through
it.
It also has finger like projections known as
villi which increase the surface area for
absorption.
Villi are richly supplied by blood capillaries
and a lymph vessel to absorb fats.
The unabsorbed food is passed to the large intestine
where water along with the minerals are absorbed.
Step 4- Assimilation The blood from villi takes
the absorbed food to each and every cell of the body,
where it is utilised for obtaining energy, building up new
tissues and the repair of old tissues.
Step 5- Egestion
The rest of the material is removed from the body via the
anus. The exit of this waste material is regulated by the
anal sphincter.
 Tooth Decay
tooth decay causes gradual softening of enamel and dentine.
It begins when bacteria acting on sugars produce acids that softens
or demineralises the enamel.
Masses of bacterial cells together with food particles stick to the
teeth to form dental plaque.
Saliva cannot reach the tooth surface to neutralise the acid as
plaque covers the teeth.
Brushing the teeth after eating removes the plaque before the
bacteria produce acids.
If untreated, microorganisms may invade the pulp, causing
inflammation and infection.