It is a process of using food for the body to grow,
reproduce, and survive.
How nutrition occurs?
Nutrition is performed by a
set of organs that form an
organ system i.e. “The
Digestive System”.
The digestive system breaks
down the food into smaller
components and energy.
This energy is utilized by
body for body functions and
growth.
“Conversion of food
in to simpler form to
be absorbed by the
body is known as
digestion”
Where does the digestion
start?
A)Stomach
B) Food pipe
C) Mouth
D)Intestines
Mechanical Digestion Chemical Digestion
Food is physically broken Chemical reactions
into smaller pieces. breakdown food particles
Digestion happens when into small molecules.
you chew, mash and grind It occurs by digestive
food with your teeth and juice produced by
tongue. different parts of
digestive system.
Food is chewed inside the oral
(buccal) cavity.
Oral cavity contains a set of teeth
and a muscular organ known as
tongue.
The teeth in humans can be
divided on basis of:
1. Age 2. Function
On basis of age, teeth can be divided into two types:
Milk Teeth Permanent Teeth
• 10 in upper jaw • 16 in upper jaw
• 10 in lower jaw • 16 in lower jaw
• Total = 20 teeth • Total = 32 teeth
Develop between ages of Replace the 20 milk teeth
6 months to 2.5 years. with a growth of new 12
teeth between 6-21 years.
Can you count your teeth ?
How many teeth of each type
are present in an adult human?
Answers
1. Incisors
1. 8
2. Canines 2. 4
3. Premolars 3. 8
4. Molars 4. 12
1. Crown
Top part of tooth.
Only part you can see.
Its shape determines
function of a tooth.
2. Root
2/3rd of a tooth.
Holds tooth in place.
Embedded in jaw bone.
Crown is further divided into:
i. Enamel
Outermost layer of tooth.
Hardest and most mineralised tissue of the body.
Can be decayed if not looked properly.
ii. Dentine
Present between enamel and pulp.
Flexible to prevent any damage from hard food.
iii. Pulp
Soft tissue present in center of tooth.
Contains nerves and vessels.
If tooth decay reaches pulp, we feel pain.
Why a tooth is decayed?
Food containing carbohydrates
and starch when left on teeth
are converted to acids. These
acids eat away enamel causing
tooth decay and ultimately
tooth loss if not treated in time.
Tooth decay can be prevented if:
Brushed regularly
Flossed regularly
Tongue is a muscular organ, attached at
the back of the floor of oral cavity and
free at the front.
Helps to mix saliva with food.
Sweeps the chewed food to the back
side for grinding by molars.
Contains taste buds to taste the food
like sweet, salty sour or bitter.
Front flexible part of tongue easily
moves around, and works with teeth to
create different words i.e. helps to
speak.
1. Ingestion Taking in food
2. Digestion Breakdown of complex food into
simpler substances
3. Absorption Digested food is absorbed by body cells
4. Assimilation Absorbed food is used to provide
energy and help in growth
5. Egestion Removal of undigested food
Chewing by teeth in mouth is mechanical digestion. It
is a physical process.
Saliva secreted in our mouth by salivary glands
contains digestive food which chemically breaks down
food into simpler particles.
Saliva also softens
food, making it
easy to swallow.
Tongue shapes the chewed food into balls and moves it
back to the mouth.
Food is then swallowed and pushed to throat and then
to oesophagus.
• It connects mouth to stomach
• Its walls undergo a series of
contraction to move the food
towards stomach. What is a food pipe?
Chewed food reaches to stomach form mouth via
oesophagus.
Structure of Stomach
• Muscular bag like body.
• Starts after food pipe
(oesophagus) and ends
before small intestine.
• Contains several layers
Functions of Stomach
Its main function is to take in food from the food pipe, mix
it, and start breaking it down by both mechanical and
chemical digestion as follows:
The muscles of stomach contract and breakdown food
into smaller particles.
Inner lining of stomach releases HCl and digestive juices
which mix with these particles.
Digestive juices
HCl makes the
chemically
condition acidic.
breakdown the
• Its good or
particles e.g.
enzyme activity.
proteins
The food stays in stomach for 2-4 hours and converted
from solid to semi-liquid form and then passed on to
small intestine.
It starts with a U-shaped bend. Small intestine
Gets coiled after U-shape. has a narrow
Longest part of alimentary canal i.e. diameter of 2.5
about 7 meters long. cm.
Why its called small intestine?
Many other organs secrete digestive
juices which enter the small
intestine for chemical digestion:
Pancreas: Secretes juice to breakdown
carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Liver: Secrets bile which breaks down
fats. The bile secreted by liver is stored
in gall bladder.
To which form, the food is
converted during digestion? Answers
1. Carbohydrates 1. Simple sugars
2. Fats 2. Fatty acids and glycerol
3. Proteins 3. Amino acids
The nutrients formed are now mixed
with water and salt and absorbed by
the body through small intestine.
Small intestine contains thousands of
microscopic finger like structures
known as “villi”.
Villi increase the surface area for
absorption and contain blood vessels
to transfer nutrients directly to blood.
The mixture remains 2-3 hours in
small intestine.
The undigested material is shifted to
large intestine.
It’s a process in which absorbed nutrients are utilized
by body cells for energy.
e.g. Glucose combines with oxygen to produce energy.
Amino acids help in growth and repair.
Fatty acids and glycerol are energy reservoirs.
Egestion and
excretion, same or
different?
Large intestine (colon) absorbs water and salts from
indigestible solids received from small intestine.
It has a large number of useful microorganisms.
After 18-24 hours the indigestible solids reach the last
part of digestive system called “rectum”.
This material now known as faeces is eliminated from
the body through anus.
Eaten food takes
24-33 hours to
travel through the
entire alimentary
canal
Digestion is impossible without
enzymes.
What are Enzymes?
Enzymes are protein molecules
which help to break large
substances in small molecules.
Speed up (catalyse) rate of
chemical reaction.
Without enzymes some reactions
are very slow or may not occur.
Enzyme Produced by/in: Function/
Breaks down:
Amylase Salivary glands and Larger carbohydrates
pancreas to sugar and glucose
Pepsin Stomach Proteins
Lipase Mouth, pancreas and Fats
stomach