DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
such as CHEWING SWALLOWING
The parts that compose the D.S are
divided into 2 classifications. The GIT
and Accessory Organs
<GIT> alimentary canal/digestive tract
 Continuous tube running through
the middle of the body from the
mouth to the anus
 The food we ingest or the waste
we are supposed to eliminate
move through these organs
<ACCESSORY ORGANS>
 Do not have direct contact with
the food/waste products
 Provide <enzymes> and other
chemicals to help breakdown
food.
*proteins that can catalyze
(speed up) certain biochemical
reactions
ORGANS:
1. MOUTH
 Where the digestive tract
begins
 Where <ingestion> occurs
*food is taken in the mouth
and broken down into
smaller pieces with the
help of AOs
<TEETH>
 ~32 hard, small ORGANS (not
bones)
 Made of DENTIN and covered
with a layer of ENAMEL
*4 BASIC TYPES OF TEETH
INCISORS - eight teeth in
the front center of your mouth.
Incisors are the teeth that you
use to bite into your food.
CANINES - they are your
sharpest teeth, used for tearing
apart food.
PREMOLARS - used for
tearing and crushing food
MOLARS - your largest
teeth, used to grind, tear, and
crush food.
 Breaks down food mechanically
by cutting and grinding food into
smaller pieces (CHEWING)
*CHEWING=MASTICATION
<TONGUE>
 Used to taste the food and mixing
food around
 Important for it motor functions
SPEECH/TALKING
<SALIVARY GLANDS>
 *PAROTID (2 below and in front of
each ear canal)
*SUBLINGUAL (under the
tongue)
*SUBMANDIBULAR (close to the
mandible)
 Produces saliva containing
digestive enzyme called amylase
*break down the starch in our
food to simpler and more easily
digestible sugars like glucose
and maltose
 Also used by the body to
lubricate food as it passes
through the mouth, throat and
esophagus
When we eat, the teeth and tongue
helps to breakdown food into smaller
pieces by chewing
The saliva breakdowns the food,
turning the food into a ball of mushy
and easy to swallow food called
bolus
*SWALLOWING=DEGLUTITION
When we swallow food or liquids, a flap
of tissue called epiglottis flaps down
over the opening of trachea to make
sure that the food enters the esophagus
and not the trachea
At the same time, a sphincter located
between esophagus and throat called
the upper esophageal sphincter allows
the bolus to enter the esophagus. The
UES prevents air from entering the
esophagus.
SPHINCTERS regulate the passage of
food from one region of the digestive
tract to the next hanggang sa paglabas
ng body. (can be compared to valve and
epiglottis?)
2. ESOPHAGUS
 Located behind the behind
the windpipe and heart
and in front of spine
 Muscular tube that serves
as a passageway of ‘bolus’
from the throat to the
stomach
The ‘bolus’ is moved through the D.T by
a rhythmic contraction in the walls of
the D.T called Peristalsis
The large hollow organs of the GIT
contain a layer of muscle called
Muscularis (responsible for gut
movement) that enables their walls to
move.
The muscle behind the food squeezes
the food forward, while the muscle in
front of the food relaxes to allow the
food to move. Thus, creating a wave-like
movement.
*4 LAYERS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT
WALL
MUCUSA, SUBMUCUSA, MUSCULARIS,
SEROSA
Before the food enters the stomach, it
passes the lower esophageal sphincter
that help prevent stomach contents
from going back to the esophagus or in
short acid reflux
3. STOMACH
 The main storage tank of
the body
 The inner layer is full of
wrinkles called <rugae>
*or gastric folds that allow
the stomach to stretch in
order to accommodate
large meals and help to
grip and move food during
digestion (can also be
found in kidneys, mouth
 lined with mucosa that’s
tough enough to hold up
the acidic environment
needed to breakdown the
food.
 The main exocrine product
of the stomach is <gastric
juice>
*a mixture of mucus,
hydrochloric acid, and
digestive enzymes.
Gastric juice is mixed with
food in the stomach to
promote digestion.
The stomach mixes and mash the bolus
that came down from the esophagus
into a semi fluid mass of PARTLY
digestive food called the chyme
The chyme enters the small intestine
passing through the pyloric sphincter.
4. SMALL INTESTINE
 contains small finger-like
projections of tissue called
<villi>
*increase the surface area
of the intestine and
(contain specialized cells
that) help transport
substances into the
bloodstream
 3 SECTIONS
*DUODENUM – first part and the
shortest region
*JEJUNUM AND ILEUM – responsible for
the absorption of nutrients into the
bloodstream
Most chemical digestion occur in
duodenum with the help of the
accessory organs.
<LIVER>
Largest internal organ
Produces <bile>
*bitter-tasting dark green to yellowish
brown fluid containing bile acids, which
are critical for digestion and absorption
of fats and fat-soluble vitamins in the
small intestine
Bile for <lipid>digestion
*fats
<GALLBLADDER>
 Small pouch that stores and
concentrates bile during the
fasting state.
 Release bile through the bile
ducts to the small intestine
<PANCREAS>
 Makes enzymes to breakdown
the food in the intestines
 PROTEASE to breakdown
proteins to amino acids
 AMYLASE to break down
carbohydrates into glucose
 LIPASE, to break down
triglycerides into fatty acids
and glycerol, works together
with bile, which your liver
produces, to break down fat
in your diet.
 Small intestine also has enzymes
called <brush border enzymes>
produced by enterocytes that line
the intestinal walls.
 MALTASE
 LACTASE
 SUCRASE
 PEPTIDASE
 before the food mixture exits our 7. ANUS
body, it passes through the large  the opening at the far end
intestine , which is where the of the digestive tract
body gets its last chance to through which stool leaves
absorb the water and minerals the body
into the blood
A muscular ring (anal sphincter) keeps
the anus closed until the person has a
5. LARGE INTESTINE also known as
bowel movement.
the colon
 (or large bowel)
absorbs water from the 8. APPENDIX
remaining indigestible  The appendix sits at the
food matter, and then junction of the small
passes the useless intestine and large
waste material from intestine. It’s a thin tube
the body, consists of about four inches long.
the cecum and colon. Normally, the appendix
<CECUM> sits in the lower right
abdomen.
 pouch or large tubelike structure
 The function of the
in the lower abdominal cavity that
appendix is unknown. One
receives undigested food
theory is that the appendix
material from the small intestine
acts as a storehouse for
and is considered the first region
good bacteria, “rebooting”
of the large intestine.
the digestive system after
 It is separated from the ileum by
diarrheal illnesses. Other
the <ileocecal valve>
experts believe the
*limits the rate of food passage
appendix is just a useless
into the cecum and may help
remnant from our
prevent material from returning
evolutionary past. Surgical
to the small intestine.
removal of the appendix
 The main functions of the cecum causes no observable
are to absorb fluids and salts that health problems
remain after completion of
intestinal digestion and
absorption and to mix its
contents with a lubricating
substance, mucus.
<COLON>
 The long, coiled, tubelike organ
that removes water from
digested food. The remaining
material, solid waste called stool

6. RECTUM
 chamber that begins at the
end of the large intestine
 its job is to receive stool
from the colon

Ordinarily, the rectum is empty because

stool is stored higher in the descending
colon. Eventually, the descending colon
becomes full, and stool passes into the
rectum, causing an urge to move the
bowels (defecate). Adults and older
children can withstand this urge until
they reach a bathroom. Infants and
young children lack the muscle control
necessary to delay bowel movement.