Manuel Zola Private School Complex | Biology 8th Grade - Academic Year 2021/2022

DIGESTIVE FUNCTION

A system is the set of organs that contribute to the accomplishment of the same function.

Example: The set of organs that carry out the process of digestion is called the system.
digestive.

The human body is organized into different systems, where each one
perform a specific function, but that are interconnected with each other to o
good functioning of the organism. The digestive system is one of them that we are going to learn.
now it has as its main function, to carry out digestion.

The digestive system is a set of different tissues that perform digestion.

Constitution and structure of the human digestive system

Constitution of the digestive system

The human digestive system is composed of:

➢ digestive tube

➢ accessory glands.

The digestive tube is a long organ that starts at the mouth and ends at the anus. To
Along this tube, complex substances undergo transformations, forming
simple substances.

The human digestive system is composed of:

➢ Mouth
➢ pharynx
➢ Esophagus
➢ Stomach
➢ small intestine
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 Private School Complex Manuel Zola | Biology 8th Grade - Academic Year 2021/2022

➢ large intestine
➢ anus.
The accessory glands, they are organs that they produce substances that act on the
food along of the tube digestive.

➢ Salivary glands,
➢ gallbladder
➢ liver
➢ Pancreas.

Structure of the digestive system

Mouth and Teeth

The mouth is a cavity limited at the front by the lips, laterally by the faces, in the
upper part by the palatine arch and, at the back, by the palatine curtain, which has a prominence,
the uvula.

In the mouth, there is the tongue, a very muscular movable organ that has taste buds.
The four types of papillae (that detect sweet, bitter, sour, and salty)
allows us to taste the flavor of food.

In the mouth, we also find teeth, which are implanted in the dental alveoli.

There are different types of teeth that perform various functions:

Incisors - whose edges are used to cut food;

Canines – that serve to tear;
Premolars and molars - that grind food.

Of the thirty-two teeth that an adult has, eight are incisors, four are canines, eight
there are premolars and twelve are large molars.

The four wisdom teeth (which are molars) appear between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five.
years. All teeth have the same internal structure. The outer part of the crown is
formed by enamel, the hardest substance in the human body, while the root part
is protected by cement, a substance similar to that which constitutes bones. The main
The tooth mass is formed by dentin. Inside this is housed the nerve that provides
sensitivity to tooth and the blood vessels that nourish them.

While the teeth grind the food, the salivary glands produce saliva, which

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 Manuel Zola Private School Complex | Biology 8th Grade - Academic Year 2021/2022

mixes with the food and helps to produce a soft dough that we call cake
to feed.

Pharynx, Esophagus and Stomach

The pharynx is funnel-shaped and extends from the back of the mouth and nasal cavities. In it,
cross the respiratory and digestive tracts.

During swallowing, the epiglottis lowers and the larynx elevates, which causes the opening of
communication between the pharynx and the larynx (glottis) is blocked. This prevents the passage of
foods for the respiratory tract. At the same time, the tongue touches the abdomen
The palatine and the uvula close the communication of the pharynx with the nasal cavities.

The esophagus is a tube about 25 cm long and 3 cm in diameter, which

passes through the diaphragm and communicates with the stomach through the cardia. The opening and closing
These passages are controlled by a circular muscle called the cardiac sphincter.

The stomach is a dilated and transformed area of the digestive tube that has a
capacity of 1.5 liters.

The walls of the stomach are internally lined by a mucosa that produces
mucus, in which there are glands that produce digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid,
what composes gastric or stomach juice.

The stomach communicates with the small intestine through the pylorus, whose opening and closing are
controlled by the pyloric sphincter. From the stomach comes a consistent mass called
chyme, which passes into the small intestine.

Small Intestine and Large Intestine

The small intestine is about 5 to 6 meters long and has many curves.
and ansas - that increase its absorption area - and is fitted in the abdominal cavity.
The initial part of the small intestine is the duodenum and measures about 30 cm in length.
After the duodenum comes a section called the jejunum, followed by the ileum, the most
the extensive part of the small intestine, which has the function of absorbing a large part of the nutrients
contained in the kilo.

In the small intestine, the pancreatic juice (produced by the pancreas) and bile act.

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 Private School Complex Manuel Zola | Biology 8th Grade - Academic Year 2021/2022

(produced by the liver and in the gallbladder) and the enteric or intestinal (produced by the
own intestines). These juices complete the breakdown of starch and proteins.

The large intestine communicates with the small intestine through the ileocecal orifice.
below this communication is the blind or sightless, and at the end of this is the appendix.
At the ileocecal junction, the large intestine continues with the ascending colon, followed by
the descending colon and this ends at the rectum, which opens to the outside through the anus whose
the opening is controlled by the anal sphincter.

Glands attached to the Digestive Tube

The glands associated with the digestive tube are: salivary glands, the liver, and the pancreas.

The salivary glands produce saliva and are in communication with the mouth. There are
three types of salivary glands:

The parotid glands, located below and in front of the ears;

The submandibular glands, located beneath the base of the tongue, in the posterior part of the
maxilla

As sublinguals, situated in front of the submandibular glands and beneath the tongue.

Saliva contains a digestive enzyme called salivary amylase or ptyalin.

transforms starch (a carbohydrate abundant in bread and rice) into a simpler peptide,
amaltose.

Of reddish-brown color, it weighs between 1.5 to 2 kg and is considered the largest

gland of the human body. It is located in the upper right part of the abdomen. It secretes about
of 700 ml of bile per day, which is conducted by a duct to the gallbladder, where it is
stored and from where it is released into the duodenum at the passage of chyme.

The pancreas, pink in color, weighs about 70 g and is 15 cm long, located

between the duodenum and the stomach (a little behind). It secretes about two liters of juice
pancreatic per day, which is conducted through the pancreatic duct, to discharge into the
duodenum. This juice contains enzymes such as: trypsin, amylase, lipase, among others, that
acts in the digestion of food. It is also the pancreas that produces a hormone that
regulates the level of glucose in the blood, insulin and glucagon. By producing substances that
passes into the bloodstream and others that go directly into the blood, it is said that the pancreas
it is a mixed gland.

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 Manuel Zola Private School Complex | Biology 8th Grade - Academic Year 2021/2022

Oral Hygiene

Oral hygiene is achieved through the use of a good toothbrush and toothpaste.
teeth. Whenever the situation requires it, it is also necessary to use dental floss.

Good oral hygiene depends on the proper use of the toothbrush. Here are some techniques for
a proper brushing of the teeth:

Move the brush vertically;

The tips of the brush wires should go from top to bottom, in the arcade
superior, and from bottom to top in the lower arch;

Friction the teeth and the gums;

Brush your teeth and rub the gums on the inside;

Brush the upper and lower arches separately, with the mouth wide open.

Brush each arch at least ten times;

Use dental floss to remove food particles that the toothbrush couldn't reach.
remove.

Functions of the digestive system

The main functions of the digestive system are a:

➢ Food gathering through the mouth;
➢ Mechanical and chemical transformation of complex substances (macromolecules)
in simple substances (micromolecules) to allow for its absorption by the
cells;
➢ Elimination of feces from the gastrointestinal tract.

Physiology of digestion

Mechanical Digestion

Digestion - it is the set of transformations undergone by food in the digestive tract.

Foods are modified along their journey through the digestive tract, not only from the point of
mechanical view, as well as from the chemical point of view. The actions considered
mechanics are:

Chewing;

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 Manuel Zola Private School Complex | Biology 8th Grade - Academic Year 2021/2022

Swallowing;
Peristaltic movements.

Mastication, through the action of the teeth and tongue, food is transformed into
smaller particles, which are then mixed with saliva, forming the food bolus.

After swallowing, the food bolus moves to the pharynx and from there to the esophagus, which opens into
stomach. The food bolus travels down the esophagus propelled by the contractions of the muscle of
its walls.

When the food cake arrives in the stomach, it contracts and performs movements that
cause the food mass to be mixed with gastric juice, directed from
followed to the pylorus.

In the stomach, the food bolus transforms into a semiliquid paste called chyme.

The contractions recorded in the esophagus, stomach, and intestines constitute the
peristaltic movements.

Chemical Digestion

Chemical digestion is the set of all chemical reactions that transform food.
in simpler and more assimilable substances. This is controlled by enzymes. They are known.
approximately two thousand enzymes.

Enzyme is any substance that accelerates a specific chemical reaction, therefore, the
the substance upon which the enzyme acts is called the substrate, while the substance that
The result of the reaction of enzymes on the substrate is called the product.

All enzymes have in common a suffix "ase" in their name, which can have the

reference to the substrate on which it acts. Example: amylase, lipase, protease, etc.

The enzymes are found in digestive juices such as saliva, gastric juice, juice
pancreatic, and the intestinal juice.

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 Manuel Zola Private School Complex | Biology 8th Grade - Academic Year 2021/2022

Action of Enzymes in Digestion

The foods we consume are made up of solid substances. For them to be

absorbed substances must be transformed by the action of enzymes.

An enzyme is formed by regions to which the substrate can bind, forming a

enzyme-substrate complex.

Enzymes do not bind permanently to the substrate nor do they alter its composition,
then, after the reaction this complex breaks down. Each enzyme has a specific substrate
about which she acts.

There is an enzyme in gastric juice – chemiosynthesis or casease that acts on the

milk protein (casein), there is also lipase, although in small quantities
gastric that causes the breakdown of lipids into fatty acids and glycerol.

In the small intestine, three juices act, one of which, bile or gall, does not contain fats.
Bile is secreted by the liver and serves to emulsify fats.

A lipase pancreática ou lipase intestinal faz com que os lípidos já emulsionados pela bílis
they are split into fatty acids and alcohol, (usually glycerol). In the juices
In pancreatic and intestinal enzymes, there are specific enzymes for the fragmentation of carbohydrates.

Pancreatic amylase (amilopsin) transforms the starch that has not been degraded by
salivary amylase.

In intestinal juice, there are the following enzymes that act on their respective substrates:
maltose/maltase, sacarosse/sacarase, lactose/lactase.

The digestion of proteins finishes when they are broken down into amino acids.
that constitute them.

Sequencing of the Digestive Process

Digestion begins in the mouth and continues along the other organs that make up the tube.
digestive.

In the mouth, food is chewed and mixed with saliva. Saliva, besides softening and lubricating
the foods contain amylase, which catalyzes the transformation of starch into maltose.

The chewed and salivated food is called a food bolus, which is then
swallowed and goes through the pharynx to the esophagus.

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 Manuel Zola Private School Complex | Biology 8th Grade - Academic Year 2021/2022

The food bolus continues to the stomach due to contractions.

involuntary movements of the esophagus walls (peristaltic movements).

In the stomach, food cake undergoes mechanical actions caused by the movements that the
they move between the cardia and the pylorus and vice versa, touching the walls of the stomach. From this
the food bolo is mixed with gastric juice and transforms into chyme, a
semi-liquid mass.

In the small intestine, the transformations are catalyzed by the enzymes of the juice.
pancreatic, bile, and intestinal juice. Bile acts on fats, facilitating the action
of lipase present in other digestive juices.

In the small intestine, the maltose that escaped the action of salivary amylase is broken down by the
pancreatic amylase.

The proteins that in the stomach were not fully broken down are unfolded into
amino acids by the action of trypsin (pancreatic protease) and intestinal protease.

Water, vitamins, and minerals undergo no transformation in the tube.

digestive, pass directly to the internal environment.

Intestinal Absorption

Blood Vessels and Lymphatic Vessels

The food after being ingested and digested is assimilated and passes directly into the
blood, a process we call digestive absorption, and how it mainly occurs
in the small intestines, it can also be called intestinal absorption

The internal wall of the small intestine has invaginations that triple the surface of

contact with the nutrients present in the quilo. These are covered by millions of
intestinal villi, inside each of which there are blood capillaries and a vessel
chyliferous, where lymph circulates.

Intestinal absorption occurs through:

Blood plasma - water, mineral salts, water-soluble vitamins, and amino acids;

Lymphatic route – fatty acids, glycerol, and fat-soluble vitamins.

All substances that are not absorbed pass into the large intestine and become part of
the feces.

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