BIOLOGY DIGESTIVE SYSTEM SS2
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
The Digestive System is a series of connected organs whose purpose is to break down, or
digest, the food we eat. Food is made up of large, complex molecules, which the digestive
system breaks down into smaller, simple molecules that can be absorbed into the bloodstream.
The simple molecules travel through the bloodstream to all of the body's cells, which use them
for growth, repair, and energy.
All animals have a digestive system, a feature that distinguishes them from plants. Plants
produce their own food in a process called photosynthesis, during which they use sunlight to
convert water and carbon dioxide into simple sugars. But animals, including humans, must take
in food in the form of organic matter, such as plants or other animals.
DIGESTION
Digestion is the breaking down of complex food substances into simple, soluble and diffusible
form by mechanical and chemical means.
Digestion generally involves two phases: a mechanical phase and a chemical phase. In the
mechanical phase, teeth or other structures physically break down large pieces of food into
smaller pieces. In the chemical phase, digestive chemicals called enzymes break apart
individual molecules of food to yield molecules that can be absorbed and distributed throughout
the body. These enzymes are secreted (produced and released) by glands in the body.
ALIMENTARY CANAL
This is a tubular passage between the mouth and the anus, including the organs through which
food passes for digestion and elimination as waste. The alimentary canal is also called the
digestive tract or gut.
In most holozoic animals, digestion and absorption of food take place in the alimentary canal
or gut. A simple unicellular animal does not have an alimentary canal.
TYPES OF ALIMENTARY TRACT
There are different types of alimentary tracts in animals. However, there is no definite
alimentary canal in plants.
1. Intracellular alimentary tract: this is a digestion that takes place inside the cell,
within a food vacuole. E.g. unicellular organism like amoeba
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BIOLOGY DIGESTIVE SYSTEM SS2
2. Extracellular alimentary tract: this is a type of digestion that occur in multi-cellular
organisms. The mouth opens into a sac-like gut cavity where food is digested. E.g.
Hydra.
3. Simple alimentary tract for simple digestion of food. E.g. Birds.
4. Compartmentalised alimentary tract by ruminants for digestion of cellulose. E.g.
ruminants like cows.
5. Complex Human alimentary tract: a long tube stretching from the mouth to the anus.
Most of it is coiled up in the abdominal cavity. It is divided into several regions: mouth,
oesophagus, stomach, and intestines. Each region plays a role in the digestion and /or
absorption of food.
PARTS OF THE MAMMALIAN ALIMENTARY CANAL
A typical mammalian alimentary canal consists of the following parts, namely: mouth,
pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, intestine, rectum and anus. All these parts can be found in most
vertebrates. However, there are modifications of the parts of the alimentary canal in various
animals. In some animals, a structure may be reduced or enlarged, while in others, some parts
may be absent. The modifications reflect the various modes of feeding and types of diet.
THE DIGESTIVE TRACT
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DESCRIPTION AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PARTS OF THE MAMMALIAN
ALIMENTARY CANAL
Mouth and Teeth: In higher animals, especially in humans, the incisors, canines, premolars
and molars are teeth used to masticate the food into particles which expose it to a large surface
area for the action of the enzymes. Digestion starts in the mouth.
Tongue: the tongue tastes the food, helps in the movement of the food in the mouth to allow
turning and mixing of the food with saliva and in forming food into bolus to allow swallowing.
Saliva: The saliva lubricates the food, allows easy chewing or movement of food in the mouth
for swallowing, forms a solvent for food, contains the enzyme ptyalin (or salivary amylase),
which digests cooked starch to maltose. The chewed food in the mouth is then swallowed.
Pharynx: it next to the mouth. In man it is short and wide. The pharynx leads to the trachea
and the oesophagus. It is used for passing food materials into the oesophagus or gullet.
Oesophagus/gullet: this is a narrow, straight, long, tube passing through the thoracic region
and the diaphragm into the stomach. Digestion does not take place here. But it is used for
passing food substances into the stomach by a wave-like muscular contraction and relaxation
called peristalsis. This type of movement occurs throughout the human alimentary canal.
Stomach: The stomach is primarily a storage organ. But in most mammals, it is very muscular
and digestion continues in it. In birds, insects and grasshopper and earthworm, the stomach
modified into a grinding organ called gizzard. The gizzard is normally muscular with small
sharp stones which masticate the food before it is further digested in the intestine. Hence,
gizzard is possessed by some vertebrates e.g. birds and some invertebrates e.g. insects and
earthworms which lack teeth in their mouth. Ruminant’s stomach is modified into four
chambered or compartments namely psalterium (or omasum), abomasums, rumen, and
reticulum.
The stomach, located in the upper abdomen just below the diaphragm, is a saclike structure
with strong, muscular walls. The stomach can expand significantly to store all the food from a
meal for both mechanical and chemical processing. The stomach contracts about three times
per minute, churning the food and mixing it with gastric juice. This fluid, secreted by
thousands of gastric glands in the lining of the stomach, consists of water, hydrochloric acid,
an enzyme called pepsin, and mucin (the main component of mucus). Hydrochloric acid
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creates the acidic environment that pepsin needs to begin breaking down proteins. It also
kills microorganisms that may have been ingested in the food. Mucin coats the stomach,
protecting it from the effects of the acid and pepsin.
In human, the wall of the stomach secretes gastric juice. This contains hydrochloric acid
which prevents the food in the stomach from being decay and two enzymes-rennin and
pepsin. Rennin curdles milk, while pepsin converts protein in the food into peptones. Food
may remain in the stomach for 3-4hours at the end it is converted to a semi-liquid paste called
chyme. Note that food is regulated into the stomach from the gullet by a muscle called cardiac
sphincter, while chyme is regulated to the small intestine by another muscle called pyloric
sphincter.
SMALL INTESTINE:
Most digestion, as well as absorption of digested food, occurs in the small intestine. Over
a period of three to six hours, peristalsis moves chyme through the duodenum (first section of
the small intestine) into the next portion of the small intestine, the jejunum, and finally into
the ileum, the last section of the small intestine.
A watery residue of indigestible food and digestive juices remains unabsorbed. This residue
leaves the ileum of the small intestine and moves by peristalsis into the large intestine. The
large intestine forms an inverted U over the coils of the small intestine. It starts on the lower
right-hand side of the body and ends on the lower left-hand side.
During this time, the liver secretes bile into the small intestine through the bile duct. Bile breaks
large fat globules into small droplets, which enzymes in the small intestine can act upon.
Pancreatic juice, secreted by the pancreas, enters the small intestine through the pancreatic
duct. Pancreatic juice contains enzymes that break down sugars and starches into simple sugars,
fats into fatty acids and glycerol, and proteins into amino acids. Glands in the intestinal walls
secrete additional enzymes that break down starches and complex sugars into nutrients that the
intestine absorbs. Structures called Brunner’s glands secrete mucus to protect the intestinal
walls from the acid effects of digestive juices.
The small intestine’s capacity for absorption is increased by millions of finger-like
projections called villi, which line the inner walls of the small intestine. Even tinier finger-
like projections called microvilli cover the cell surfaces. This combination of villi and
microvilli increases the surface area of the small intestine’s lining by about 150 times,
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multiplying its capacity for absorption. Beneath the villi’s single layer of cells are capillaries
(tiny vessels) of the bloodstream and the lymphatic system. These capillaries allow nutrients
produced by digestion to travel to the cells of the body. Simple sugars and amino acids pass
through the capillaries to enter the bloodstream. Fatty acids and glycerol pass through to the
lymphatic system.
THE LARGE INTESTINE:
The large intestine serves several important functions.
I. It absorbs water
II. In addition, bacteria in the large intestine promote the breakdown of
undigested materials and make several vitamins, notably vitamin K, which the
body needs for blood clotting.
III. The large intestine moves its remaining contents toward the rectum. The rectum
stores the faeces—waste material that consists largely of undigested food,
digestive juices, bacteria, and mucus—until elimination. Then, muscle contractions
in the walls of the rectum push the faeces toward the anus. When anal sphincters
between the rectum and anus relax, the faeces pass out of the body.
MAMMALIAN TEETH
The type of teeth possessed by a mammal is related to the type of food it eats. The number,
arrangement and conformation of teeth in an organism are referred to as its dentition. When
all the teeth are the same shape and size as in fishes, amphibians and reptiles it is called
homodont dentition. When they differ in shape as in dogs, man and rabbits it is heterodont
dentition.
Mammals usually have four different types of teeth namely the incisors, canines, premolars
and molars. Man has two sets of teeth during his lifetime; the milk teeth when young and the
permanent teeth when mature. There are 20 milk teeth and 32 permanent teeth.
Types of Teeth
1. Incisors – These are flattened, chisel-like with a sharp edge for cutting and holding
onto the food/prey. They are located in the front of the jaw.
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2. Canines – These have sharp, pointed tips and are used for tearing flesh. They are next
to the incisors.
3. Premolars – These have broad ridged surfaces called cusps. They are used for grinding
and chewing food. They are located towards the back of the jaw.
4. Molars – These also have broad, ridged surfaces and are used for chewing and grinding
food. They are found at the extreme back of the jaws.
Adult Teeth
Dental Formula
This refers to the number, type and arrangement of teeth in one half of each jaw.
Example in;
2 1 2 3
(i) Man; I
2
;C
1
; PM
2
;M
3
3 1 4 2
(ii) Dog; I ;C ; PM ;M
3 1 4 3
2 0 3 3
(iii) Rabbit; I ;C ; PM ;M
1 0 2 3
Structure of a Tooth
A typical tooth has three parts; the crown, the neck and the root. The crown is the part above
the gum. The root is embedded in the jaw and the neck is the part on the same level with the
gum, it is the narrow junction between the crown and root.
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The incisors and canines have one root each while the premolars and molars have two or three
roots each.
A TYPICAL TOOTH
In the center of the tooth is a pulp cavity which contains blood vessels and nerves that make
extremely sensitive to heat, cold and pain. The dentine, a hard bone-like material, encloses the
pulp. The enamel, a white, hard material covers the dentine, protecting it and the pulp within.
At the root region a thin layer of cement covers the dentine. The cement is surrounded by the
periodontal membrane, a fibrous tissue that fixes the tooth into the jaw bone.
Dental care
Tooth decay caused by bacteria and fermentation of carbohydrates that get stuck in the teeth
can be prevented by;
1. Practicing regular oral hygiene
2. Eating balanced diet containing enough vitamin, phosphorus and calcium.
3. Eating hard, fibrous fruits after each meal.
4. Avoiding sweet food, very hot and very cold.
5. Visiting a dentist regularly.