The Digestive Process

Questions and Answers

Breaking down cellulose into glucose

Breaking down proteins into peptides

Breaking down fats into fatty acids

Breaking down starch into sugar (correct)

It facilitates the action of pepsin

It helps in the absorption of nutrients

It increases the surface area for digestion

It protects the inner lining of the stomach from acid (correct)

To absorb nutrients into the bloodstream

To push the food forward along the digestive tube (correct)

To mix the food with digestive juices

To eliminate waste products from the body

It activates the enzyme pepsin Signup and view all the answers

It mixes the food with saliva Signup and view all the answers

To release digestive juices and enzymes Signup and view all the answers

Complex molecules are broken down into smaller molecules Signup and view all the answers

It moves food from the mouth to the stomach Signup and view all the answers

It facilitates the action of pepsin Signup and view all the answers

It mixes food thoroughly with digestive juices and enzymes Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Food must be processed to generate small particles of the same texture to pass through the digestive tract.
Crushing food with teeth breaks it down into smaller particles.
Saliva, secreted by salivary glands, wets the food to make its passage smooth.
Saliva contains the enzyme salivary amylase, which breaks down starch into sugar.
The muscular tongue mixes food thoroughly with saliva and moves it around the mouth during chewing.
Peristaltic movements of the canal's muscular lining contract rhythmically to push food forward along the digestive tube.

Food enters the stomach through the food-pipe or oesophagus.
The stomach expands when food enters it, and its muscular walls help mix food with digestive juices.
Gastric glands in the stomach wall release:
- Hydrochloric acid, which creates an acidic medium for the enzyme pepsin to function.
- Pepsin, a protein-digesting enzyme.
- Mucus, which protects the inner lining of the stomach from acid.