4 Arts, Tech, Bus 1

Nutrients

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 Organic molecules
• The chemicals which make up the bodies
of animals, plants or other organisms are
known as organic molecules, whereas
molecules that form part of the
surroundings of an organism, such as
carbon dioxide in the air, or water in the
soil, are called inorganic molecules.

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• The human body is largely composed of
water, but the solid material of the body is
made up from various classes of substance,
including carbohydrates, lipids and proteins.

• You need to know about the chemical nature

of these materials, and how you can carry
out simple chemical tests for them.

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 Carbohydrates
• Carbohydrates make up less than 1% of
the mass of the human body, but they
have a very important role.

• They are the body's main 'fuel' for

supplying cells with energy.

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• Cells release this energy by oxidising a
sugar called glucose, in the process called
cell respiration (see Respiration).

• Sugars are one class of carbohydrates.

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 Monosaccharides
• The chemical formula of glucose is C6H1206
(Figure 1).

• Like all carbohydrates, glucose contains

only the elements carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen.

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Figure 1: Glucose Molecule

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• The 'carbo' part of the name refers to
carbon, and the 'hydrate' part refers to the
fact that the hydrogen and oxygen atoms
are in the ratio two to one, as in water
(H20).

C6h12o6
ch2o

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• Glucose is found naturally in many sweet-
tasting foods, such as fruits and
vegetables.

• Other foods contain different sugars, such

as the fruit sugar called fructose.

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• Glucose and fructose are both simple
sugars, each made of a single sugar
molecule.

• We call them monosaccharides, where

'mono' means 'one' and a 'saccharide' is a
sugar unit.

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 Disaccharides
• Monosaccharides can join together to form
complex sugars made up from two sugar
units.

• These are called disaccharides.

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• Ordinary table sugar, the sort some people
put in their tea or coffee, is a disaccharide
called sucrose, made by linking together
glucose with a fructose molecule (Figure
2)

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Figure 2: Sucrose molecule

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• Sucrose is the main sugar that is
transported through plant stems.

• This is why we can extract it from the

stems of sugar cane, which is a large
grass­like plant

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• Other disaccharides include maltose,
composed of two glucose units,

• Lactose is composed of glucose joined to

a monosaccharide called galactose.
Lactose, the sugar found in milk. (Table 1).

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 Polysaccharides
• We get most of the carbohydrate in our
diet not from sugars, but from starch.

• Starch, along with most other

polysaccharides, is a large, insoluble
molecule, and does not taste sweet.

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• Because it does not dissolve in water, it is
found as a storage carbohydrate in many
plants, such as potato, rice, cassava, yam,
eddoes and wheat .

• The 'staple diets' of people from around

the world are starchy foods like rice,
potatoes, bread and pasta.

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• Starch is made up of long chains of
hundreds of glucose molecules joined
together.

• In other words it is a polymer of glucose,

called a polysaccharide (Figure 3).

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Figure 3: Starch (polysaccharide)

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• Starch is only found in plant tissues, but
animal cells sometimes contain a very
similar carbohydrate called glycogen.

• This is also a polymer of glucose, and is

found in tissues such as liver and muscle,
where it can be converted into glucose
when the body needs a source of energy.

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• As you will see, large insoluble
carbohydrates such as starch and
glycogen have to be broken down into
simple soluble sugars during digestion, so
that they can be absorbed into the blood
(Circulation).

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• Another carbohydrate that is a polymer of
glucose is cellulose, the material that
makes up plant cell walls.

• We are not able to digest cellulose,

because our gut doesn't make the enzyme
needed to break down the cellulose
molecule.

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• This means that we are not able to use
cellulose as a source of energy.

• However, it still has a vitally important

function in our diet.

• It forms dietary fibre or roughage,

which gives the muscles of the gut
something to push against as the stop
food is
moved through the intestine.
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• This keeps the gut contents moving,
avoiding constipation and helping to
prevent serious diseases of the intestine,
such as colitis and bowel cancer.

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 Lipids
• Lipids are fats and oils. Most lipids are
insoluble in water, and act as a store of
energy in many animal and plant tissues.
They contain the same three elements as
carbohydrates - carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen, but the proportion of oxygen in a
lipid is much lower than in a carbohydrate.

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• For example, beef and lamb both contain
a lipid called tristearin, which has the
formula C51H9806.

• This lipid is a solid at room temperature,

but melts if you warm it up, making it a fat.

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• On the other hand, plant lipids are usually
liquid at room temperature, and so are
called oils.

• Meat, butter, cheese, milk, eggs and oily

fish are all rich in lipids, as well as foods
fried in fat or oil, such as potato chips.

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• Plant oils include many types used for
cooking, such as olive oil, corn oil, coconut
oil and soya oil, as well as products made
from oils, such as margarine (Figure 4).

• The chemical 'building blocks' of lipids are

two types of molecule called glycerol and
fatty acids

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Figure 4: Molecular formula of margarine

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• Glycerol is an oily liquid. It is also known
as glycerine, and is used in many types of
make-up.

• In a lipid, a molecule of glycerol is joined

to three fatty acid molecules (Figure 5).

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Figure 5: Fat Molecule

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• There are a large number of different
fatty acid molecules, which gives us the
many different kinds of lipid found in
food. Both glycerol and fatty acids are
water-soluble.

• Although lipids are an essential part of

our diet, too much lipid is unhealthy,
especially a type called saturated lipids,
as well as a compound called
cholesterol
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• These substances have been linked to
heart disease.

• Saturated lipids are more common in food

rich in animal fat, such as meat and dairy
products.

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• 'Saturated' is a word used in chemistry,
which means that the fatty acids of the
lipids contain no double bonds

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• Other lipids are unsaturated, which
means that their fatty acids contain double
bonds.

• These are more common in plant oils.

• There is evidence that unsaturated lipids

are healthier for us than saturated ones.

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• Cholesterol is a substance that the body
gets from food such as eggs and meat, but
we also make cholesterol in our livers.

• It is an essential part of all cells, but too

much cholesterol can cause heart disease.

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• The percentage of lipid in the body can
vary quite a bit.

• A slim, young male might contain only

10% lipid, while an adult overweight
female may contain as much as 25% by
mass.

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• Conversely, males tend to have a higher
protein and water content than women.

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 Proteins
• The average protein content of the body is
about 17%.

• All cells contain protein, so we need it for

growth and repair of tissues

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• Many compounds in the body are made
from protein, including enzymes, the
biological catalysts that are essential for
the metabolism of the cell.

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• Most foods contain some protein, but
certain foods such as meat, fish, cheese
and eggs are particularly rich in it.

• You will notice that these foods are animal

products.

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• Plant material generally contains less protein,
but some foods, especially beans, peas and
nuts, are richer in protein than others.

• Like starch, proteins are also polymers, but

whereas starch is made from a single
molecular building block (glucose), proteins
are made from combinations of 20 different
sub-units called amino acids

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• All amino acids contain four chemical
elements: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
(as in carbohydrates and fats) along with
nitrogen.

• Two amino acids also contain sulphur. The

amino acids are linked together in long
chains (Figure 6).

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• The chains are then folded up or twisted
into spirals, with cross-links holding them
together.

• In turn these twists and spirals may be

arranged to give the protein molecule a
complex three-dimensional structure.

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• This shape of a protein is very important in
allowing it to carry out its function, and the
order of amino acids in the protein decides
its shape.

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• Because there are 20 different amino
acids, and they can be arranged in any
order, the number of different protein
structures that can be made is enormous.

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• As a result, there are thousands of
different kinds of proteins in organisms,
from structural proteins such as collagen
and keratin in skin and nails, to proteins
with more specific functions, such as
enzymes and haemoglobin.

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• Proteins are very large molecules. Most
are insoluble, so except for a few small
soluble proteins, they cannot be
transported around the body.

• However, amino acids are soluble, and

can be transported in the blood or in the
contents of the phloem of a plant.

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The role of vitamins in the human body
• All vitamins are essentially substances needed
for specific cellular reaction and most of them
are co-enzymes, materials which must be
present as part of an enzyme system.

• They are substances which .are synthesized by

some plant or animal cells but which "human
beings usually can no longer synthesize.

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• Because of their nature, vitamins are
needed only in small amounts, and are
available only in small amounts.

• Clinical signs of early vitamin deficiency

include abnormalities of the skin and
lesions on mucous membranes.

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• These signs are non-specific, as they occur
with all vitamin deficiencies, and they are
caused by disruption of cellular activities.

• Sub-clinical deficiencies, i.e. those for which

no signs are apparent, give rise to vague ill-
health.

• Severe deficiencies give rise to the deficiency

diseases will be described.
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 Vitamin A (retinol)
• This vitamin is found in foods of animal
origin.

• Rich sources include liver, egg-yolk, and

fish-liver oils.

• Good sources include milk and cheese.

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• The vitamin is also synthesized in the
human body from carotene.

• Carotene sources include-dark--green

leafy vegetables, and all red and yellow
fruits and vegetables such as papaya (paw
paw), pineapple, banana, tomatoes, and
carrots.

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• Red palm oil is a particularly rich source of
the vitamin.

• The retinol found in foods of animal origin

has been synthesized from carotene.

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• Vitamin A is soluble in fats but insoluble in
water.

• Retinol has two important functions in the

body.

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• Firstly it forms visual purple in the retina.

• The ability of the eye to see at night, or in

dim light, depends on the presence of
visual purple.

• Hence a deficiency of retinoI causes night-

blindness.

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• This is merely a diminished ability to see in
poor light.

• The second effect of deficiency of retinol is

much more serious.

• Retinol is necessary for the correct

functioning of all epithelial cells in the body.

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• A deficiency of retinol causes the epithelial
cells to flatten and become heaped on
each other, forming dry, scaly surfaces.

• A deficiency of retinol causes (a) dry, scaly

patches of skin (b) dry cornea, leading to
xerophthalmia, followed by ulceration of
the cornea and finally blindness.

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• The first sign of xerophthalmia is a dry
cornea.
•
• Xerophthalmia describes all the
succeeding signs and symptoms up to
final blindness.

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• The presence of retinol helps
– (a) the healing of wounds, and

– (b) resistance to infection through mucous

membranes, because of the correct function­
ing of epithelial cells.

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• Vitamin A is stored in the liver (hence liver
is an excellent source of retinol) but over­
doses of retinol are toxic (poisonous).

• Improvement in the diet cures deficiencies

of the vitamin.

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• Babies normally obtain the vitamin in
mother's milk, and they may suffer
deficiency if fed on unsuitable artificial
diets lacking retinol (e.g. cheap condensed
milk).

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 Vitamin D (calciferol)
• The best source of the vitamin is fish-liver
oils.

• Good sources include eggs, liver, butter and

cheese.

• The human body is not dependent on food

sources for the vitamin, though, as calciferol
is synthesized in the skin by the action of
ultra-violet light from sunlight.
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• For many people in the tropics, the
synthesis in the skin is practically the only
source of calciferol as the food sources of
the vitamin are scarce and costly.

• Human and cow's milk contain negligible

amounts of the vitamin.

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• Calciferol is soluble in fats, but insoluble in
water; it is stored in the liver. Overdoses of
the vitamin are toxic.

• Dark pigmented skins lessen the extent of

synthesis of calciferol in the skin.

• This reduces the chance of an overdose of

the vitamin by exposure of the skin to
sunlight in tropical conditions.
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• Pigmentation of the skin, which occurs on
exposure to sunlight, is thus a protective
mechanism, essential to the control of the
supply of calciferol.

• The presence of vitamin D is essential for

the absorption and utilization of calcium
and phosphorus by the human body.

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• This is its function in metabolism.

• It promotes the formation of normal bone,

and the calcification of bones.

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• A deficiency of calciferol causes rickets in
children, a disease in which the bones are
too soft, and the legs and body are
deformed.

• Teeth, too, are affected. Rickets should

not be a common disease in tropical
areas; it does occur, however, in infants
kept out of sunlight.
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• Bone softening (osteomalacia) in
pregnancy and old age is caused by a
vitamin D deficiency, which causes poor
absorption of calcium and phosphorus,
and leads to the decalcification of bone..

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• The cause of rickets and osteomalacia is
mainly a lack of exposure to ultra-violet
light, especially in tropical conditions,
where diets have fewer sources of vitamin
D.

• Vitamin D is supplemented, where a

deficiency occurs, by giving the patient
fish-liver oils

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 Figure 6: Child
suffering from
rickets

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Vitamin B1 (thiamine, aneurin)
• The richest sources of thiamine are yeast
and bran from cereals.

• Good sources of thiamine include whole

cereals, pulses, liver, heart and kidney.

• Moderate sources include lean meats,

especially pork. Butter and other fats
contain no thiamine.
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• Thiamine is part of the enzyme system in
the metabolism of carbohydrate; it is
concerned with the oxidation of pyruvic
acid before the product enters the
mitochondria.

• The vitamin is essential to cell respiration.

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• A deficiency of thiamin causes
– (l) loss of nerve functions and muscle atrophy
i.e. the muscles waste and lose strength;

– (2) heart failure arising from muscle atrophy;

– (3) severe mental illness.

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• Deficiency symptoms develop more quickly
in people living on diets rich in
carbohydrates.

• Diets rich in fat delay deficiency symptoms.

• Deficiency of thiamine also causes the

disease beri­beri.

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• The early symptoms and signs of beri-beri
include loss of appetite, weakness of the
legs, and lack of nervous sensation in the
extremities, often accompanied by
numbness of the legs.

• Severe forms of the disease are called wet

beri-beri and dry beri-beri.

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• In wet beri-beri considerable swelling of
the legs, face and trunk takes place.

• In dry beri-beri the patient becomes

emaciated, and incapable of walking (see
Fig. 7).

• Beri-beri was formerly considered to be a

defciency disease caused by a rice diet.
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Figure 8: patient suffering from beri - beri

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• White, polished rice does favour the
condition because of a lack of thiamine
and the rich carbohydrate nature of the
diet.

• However, the use of any highly milled

cereal will also cause beri-beri.

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• The disease is cured rapidly by giving the
patient yeast or bran (such as rice
polishings).

• An adequate diet with sufficient thiamine

prevents beri­beri.

• Thiamine is soluble in water, but insoluble

in fat.

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• It is rapidly destroyed by heat in alkaline or
neutral solutions, but otherwise is
relatively stable up to 120 °C.

• Normal cooking methods cause a loss of

about 25 % of the vitamin.

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• Excess vitamin absorbed by the body is
excreted in urine.

• The human body cannot store thiamine, so

a daily intake is required.,

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 Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
• The best sources of vitamin C are citrus
fruits (e.g. oranges, limes, pomelos),
guava, papaya, potatoes, and fresh green
vegetables.

• Fair sources include other fresh fruits, and

liver.

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• Milk, eggs and meat lack vitamin C.

• Ascorbic acid is essential for the formation

of collagen, the supporting structure for
tissues, and for the formation of bones.

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• A deficiency of vitamin C causes scurvy.

• In this deficiency disease, the teeth are

loosened, the gums bleed, and the
healing of wounds is retarded.

• A deficiency also causes weakness of the

walls of blood capillaries, leading to
bruising under the skin.
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• The resistance of a person to infection is
also lowered by vitamin C deficiency.

• Scurvy, and other symptoms of vitamin C

deficiency, are rapidly cured by
administering ascorbic acid, or by providing
good sources of the vitamin in the diet.

• The vitamin is soluble in water, but insoluble

in fat; it is easily oxidized on heating.

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• Fresh fruit, or bruised vegetables, exposed
to the air lose a lot of their vitamin C
content by atmospheric oxidation.

• Prolonged cooking destroys vitamin C.

• Excess vitamin is excreted in urine.

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Figure 9: Person suffering from scurvy

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 Calcium
• The more important sources of calcium
are milk, cheese, bread, cereals, and
pulses.

• The absorption of calcium is assisted by

vitamin D, but, even so, the amount
absorbed from food is always less than the
food contains.
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• The excess calcium unabsorbed is passed
out with the faeces.

• The daily intake of calcium for an adult is

shown in Fig. 10.

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Figure 10: Adult calcium cycle

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• The calcium passes from the alimentary
canal into the blood stream where some is
present as free ions, and the remainder is
combined with blood proteins.

• A continuous exchange of calcium takes

place between the blood and the bones of
the skeleton.

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• About 750 mg of calcium ions are used
daily in bone and teeth formation, and the
same amount is reabsorbed from the
bones and teeth back into the blood.

• The total mass of calcium in the bones of

an adult is about 1200 g.

• This quantity acts as a calcium reserve.

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• The kidneys control the concentration of
calcium in the blood and any excess
calcium ions are excreted in urine to
maintain the correct concentration.

• The function of calcium in combination

with phosphate ions is the formation of
bones and teeth.

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• Calcium ions are also essential for the
clotting of blood.

• Sodium oxalate is added to blood

samples, and prevents the samples
clotting by removing calcium ions in a
precipitate of calcium oxalate.

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• The enzyme rennin is activated by the
presence of calcium ions.

• A deficiency of calcium causes rickets in

infants and osteomalacia (bone
softening) in adults.

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• These are the deficiency diseases of
vitamin D, in which too little calcium is
absorbed by the body.

• Lack of calcium causes wasting of bone

and poor growth, which together account
for the two deficiency diseases.

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• A pregnant woman supplies calcium to the
growing foetus, and an increased amount
of calcium, about400 mg in all, in the diet
is recommended to replace the drain on
the woman's calcium reserves.

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• The calcium content of the blood remains'
constant, so the extra calcium required
during pregnancy is obtained from reserves
in the bones and teeth unless supplied by
the diet.

• During lactation, a mother secretes about

250 mg of calcium daily in milk for her
infant.
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 Iron
• The main sources of iron in a diet are liver,
meat, cereals, and vegetables.

• Absorption of iron in the alimentary canal

is an extremely complicated process.

• When the body is deficient in iron,

absorption is increased.

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• The main function of iron is to form
haemoglobin in the red blood cells.

• Red blood cells have a life of about 120

days, during which they circulate in the
blood stream, and the haemoglobin acts
as an oxygen carrier.

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• After this period, the red blood cells are
destroyed in the spleen.

• The iron is returned to the blood plasma

(liquid portion of blood) from the spleen.

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• The iron is passed to red bone marrow by
way of the blood stream and used to form
new red blood cells.

• Iron is stored in the liver, the spleen, and

in red bone marrow; the amount stored
being about 1 g.

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• There is a continuous exchange of iron
between the storage sites and the red
blood cells, amounting to a turnover of
about 35 mg per day.

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• All tissue cells contain a small amount of iron.

• Tissue cells die and are replaced in the body.

• The dead cells are eliminated through the

alimentary canal, the skin, and the urinary
tract.

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• Small losses also occur in bile and sweat.
The total loss from all such sources is
about 1 mg of iron per day for an adult
male.

• This is balanced by the 1 mg of iron

absorbed per day.

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• Adult women lose iron during
menstruation.

• The loss is one menstrual period is about

28 mg. So a reproductive woman loses 28
mg by menstruation and 28 mg by normal
elimination in 28 days, i.e. twice the loss
from a male.

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• Reproductive women need more iron and
normally their power of absorption is
greater than that of a male.

• In the food, 12 mg of iron per day for

women, and 10 mg per day for men,
provide an adequate intake of 1 mg per day
for a man and an average of 2 mg per day
for a woman.
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• A deficiency of iron causes anaemia.

• In anaemia, the amount of haemoglobin in

the blood is less than normal, and less
oxygen can be carried from lungs to
tissues.

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• The condition will result if the number of
red blood cells is too low, or if the number
is normal and each cell contains less
haemoglobin than usual.

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Figure 11: Adult iron cycle

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 Water
• The intake of water comes from liquids,
the water content of solid foods, and the
water produced during metabolism (e.g. in
respiration).

• The output of water goes into urine,

faeces, sweating, and water vapour in the
breath.

• The body maintains a water balance so

that the intake and output are
approximately equal.
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• C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2+6H2O+ATP

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• Loss of water from the body tends to
increase the concentration of sodium ions
in the body fluids.

• When this happens, either by water loss or

by excessive intake of salt, the sensory
receptors for thirst (in the brain) are
stimulated, and the person feels thirsty
and drinks.

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• Under tropical conditions, associated with
heavy sweating, and also in patients with
fevers, the loss of sodium chloride (table
salt) in sweat can disturb this thirst
mechanism, and the person may then be
unaware of the loss of water.

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• Heat exhaustion due to dehydration
combined with lack of sodium may then
follow, unless the person drinks water and
takes salt.

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• The loss of water per day, under normal
circumstances, is approximately 1-5 litres in
urine, and about 0-3 litres in respired air.

• The amount lost in sweat varies with the

climate and occupation. Under hot, humid
conditions, the loss can rise to. 2-5 litres
per hour for manual work, and an average
loss will be about 0-5 litres per hour.

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• Dry climates will increase the loss from the
lungs, as the evaporation of water is
greater; this loss is balanced by a
decrease in the output of the kidneys.

• There is a lower limit to the volume

excreted by the kidneys as there is a limit
to the concentration of the dissolved
solutes in urine.

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• If less urine than the lower limit is excreted,
the body retains salts and nitrogenous
waste (urea), and this has a toxic effect.

• A deficiency of water causes dehydration of

the body, the signs being sunken features,
dry skin, and " loss of elasticity of the skin.

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• Dehydration is a common and dangerous
feature of many fevers and of diarrhoea,
particularly amongst infants.

• Excess water may be stored in the

tissues, particularly when the
concentration of sodium is too high.

• The water forms excess tissue fluids and

is apparent as oedema.

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• The average requirement of a sedentary
individual is approximately 1-15 litres of
water (taken as liquid) per day.

• If sweating in a hot, humid, tropical

climate, the requirement is increased to
about 2-5 litres of fluids per day.

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• The remaining water required by the body
is obtained from foods and metabolic
reactions.

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 Malnutrition
• Malnutrition is caused by an inadequate intake
of food, or by lack of the right kind of food, or
by both.

• The food intake may be inadequate in protein

or inadequate in energy supply, but both
inadequacies are usually found together.

• The extreme cases are those in which there is

either a protein or a calorie deficiency.
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• The causes of malnutrition in children are
as follows:
– A growing child has a high requirement of
food for growth, which is highest in the first
year of life.

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– Breast feeding is only adequate for the first 4
to 6 months. After this period the child tends
to become deficient in nutrients.

– Worms and other parasites may consume the

food instead of the child. An infected child is
feverish, he burns up calories maintaining a
high temperature and uses up protein to fight
the infection.

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• Poverty may limit the supply of food.

• Many traditional diets are too low in

protein for the child's needs and the diet
also supplies inade­quate energy.

• Anxiety shown by a child for reasons such

as loss of its mother, displaced affection
by a new baby, neglect by its family, all
cause loss of appetite.

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• Infrequent and bulky meals may be given
to the child as they quickly satisfy hunger.
The child, however, is unable to eat
sufficient food after being so quickly
satisfied.

• The child may not be able to digest or

absorb the food because it is too hard, for
example, pulses and maize are often
indigestible. Sickness can also prevent
proper digestion.
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 NUTRITION
• The term "nutrition" covers both the
physical means by which food is taken into
the body and the chemical reactions by
which it is finally made available for use in
the cells of the different tissues.

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• Nutrition in man therefore includes
ingestion of food, digestion of foodstuffs
by secreted juices, the absorption of the
products of digestion and their final
assimilation by the cells in the tissues.

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• This presentation is concerned only with
the alimentary canal.

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INGESTION

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 The Mouth
• Food is chewed in the mouth to make the
food particles smaller, and, at the same
time, to mix the food with saliva which acts
as a lubricant.

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• In the mouth there are three pairs of
salivary glands, as in Figure 12, where
the glands on the left side only are shown;
these glands secrete saliva into the mouth.

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Figure 12: The ingestion of food

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• The teeth tear and grind the food into
small particles and the tongue moves the
food during chewing and forms it into a
spherical mass, called a bolus, ready for
swallowing.

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 THE THROAT
• The food bolus is pushed by the tongue
from the mouth into the pharynx.

• The pharynx is a cavity behind the mouth;

connected to it are two nasal passages
leading from oesophagus, and the
oesophagus leading to the stomach.

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• The larynx is covered by a flap-like
structure, the epiglottis, which closes the
entrance to the trachea when food is
swallowed.

• The process of swallowing is a reflex.

When the bolus of food touches the back
of the tongue and the pharynx, this
stimulates nerve endings and a message
passes to the lower part of the brain.

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• Another message then passes out to the
muscles of the pharynx, the epiglottis and
the upper part of the oesophagus. These
muscles contract.

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• The epiglottis comes down to cover the
entrance to the larynx and trachea, and by
the contracting muscles of the pharynx
and oesophagus the bolus of food is
pushed down the oesophagus.

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 Oesophagus
• The oesophagus is a muscular tube leading
to the stomach.

• The contraction of the muscles forces the

food bolus down the oesophagus; once the
bolus has entered the tube, a wave of
muscular contraction forces the bolus from
the pharynx to the stomach.

• Peristalsis- movement of food along the

alimentary canal due to muscular contraction.
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Figure 14: The oesophagus

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Figure 15: Swallowing food

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STRUCTURE OF
THE
ALIMENTARY
CANAL
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 Stomach
• The stomach (see Figs. 16 and 17) is
situated just below the diaphragm and on
the left of the abdominal cavity; it is
shaped like a letter J when empty; when
full it is cone-shaped, with the narrow end
pointing downwards.

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Figure 16: The stomach of a man

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Figure 17: Digestion in the stomach

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• It is about 25 centimetres long by 10
centimetres in diameter when full.

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• The oesophagus enters the upper end of
the stomach, and an opening, called the
pyloric orifice, at the lower end of the
stomach, leads into the duodenum.

• This orifice is closed by a powerful circular

muscle, called a sphincter muscle.

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• The pyloric sphincter (Fig. 18) controls the
intermittant passage of food from the
stomach into the duodenum.

• The outside wall of the stomach is

muscular and keeps the food in constant
motion.

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Figure 18: The pyloric Sphincter muscle

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• The lining of the stomach contains many
glands which secrete gastric juice.

• Food passes through the stomach as

shown in Fig. 17, and when completely
mixed with gastric juice forms a creamy
liquid, called chyme.

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• The pyloric sphincter opens from time to
time and chyme is passed into the
duodenum.

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 Gall bladder
• The gall bladder is situated between lobes
of the liver (see excretion); its function is to
store and concentrate bile.

• Bile is carried by the bile duct, which joins

the pancreatic duct just before the latter
enters the duodenum.

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 Pancreas
• The pancreas is a pink leaf-shaped gland
situated just below the stomach in the
bend of the duodenum.

• It secretes pancreatic juice, which is

carried by the pancreatic duct (see Fig.
19) to the duodenum.

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Figure 19: The duodenum and pancreas

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 The small intestine
• The three parts of the small intestine are
the duodenum, the jejunum and the
ileum.

• The duodenum is a tube about 4

centimetres in diameter and about 25
centimetres long.

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• It starts at the pyloric orifice, and is curved
in a U-shape round the pancreas.

• The duodenum is the first portion of the

small intestine.

• Ducts lead into it from the pancreas and

from the gall bladder (see Fig. 19).

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• The jejunum is the next part of the small
intestine.

• It joins the duodenum to the ileum.

• The ileum in man is approximately 6

metres long; it is a narrow muscular tube
coiled in the abdominal cavity.

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• The ileum has a mucous lining, and is much
folded to present a large absorptive surface.

• The inner surface of the ileum throughout its

whole length is covered with many small
finger-like projections, about 1 mm long,
called villi.

• The villi can be seen in Fig. 20; they greatly

increase the area of the absorptive surface.

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Figure 20: Cross section of small
intestine

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• The intestine has two layers of muscle, a
thinner outside layer of longitudinal
muscle, and a thicker inner layer of
circular muscle (see Fig. 21).

• Alternating contractions of the circular and

longitudinal muscles produce waves of
contractions which pass down the
intestine, and drive the chyme before
them.

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Figure 21: Cross section of small
intestine (diagram)

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• This action is called peristalsis, and the
muscular action is stimulated by the
presence of chyme in the intestine.

• Peristalsis occurs throughout the whole

length of the alimentary canal; it starts in
the oesophagus and continues through to
the rectum.

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• The action of the stomach muscles is also
peristaltic.

• Glands in the mucous lining of the ileum,

at the base of the villi, secrete intestinal
juice (also called succus entericus).

• Peristalsis mixes the chyme with the

intestinal juice.
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• The large intestine is a wide muscular tube
about 1 ½ metres in length.

• Where the ileum joins the large intestine

there is a blind sac, or pouch, about 6
centimetres deep, called the caecum.

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• Attached to the caecum is a small, narrow
tube, the appendix.

• In man, the appendix has no part in

digestion.

• A herbivorous animal has a well-

developed caecum and appendix, as both
are used in the digestion of substances
which are unsuitable as food for man
(mainly cellulose).
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• The ileum enters the large intestine just
above the caecum (see Fig. 22).

• The large intestine consists of the caecum,

the colon, and the rectum.
•

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Figure 22: The large intestine

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 The rectum
• The last part of the large intestine is a
short tube, about 15 centimetres long, the
rectum, which is directly connected to the
descending colon

• The upper end of the rectum is the widest

part of the large intestine.

4 arts
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• The lower end of the rectum is closed by
the anus, a short tube about 2 centimetres
long, surround by a powerful circular
muscle, the anal sphincter

• This muscle is under the control of the

will.

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• The function of the rectum is to store
faeces until they are voided through the
anus.

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 The Teeth
• All mammals have teeth which are
specialised for their particular kind of food.

• Herbivorous animals tear off grass and

then grind it up.

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• Incisor teeth are used for tearing the
grass; they have sharp chisel-like edges.

• Molar teeth are used for grinding the

grass; they are large teeth with flat tops
and possess ridges across the teeth.

• 'Carnivorous animals tear flesh and crush

bones.
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• Canine teeth are used for tearing flesh;
they are sharp and pointed.

• Molar teeth are used for crushing bones;

they have ridge on the top of the teeth with
cusps or outer cutting edges.

• Omnivorous animal and these include

man, possess both combinations of teeth.
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• Mammals grow two sets of teeth, the first
set are called milk (decidious) teeth, and
the second set are called ‘permanent"
teeth.

• Milk teeth grow in children between the

ages of 7 months and 24 months.
•

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• After that time, the child has a full set, 20
in all, of milk teeth.

• Milk teeth are replaced gradually by

permanent teeth between the ages of 7 to
12 years old.

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• More teeth (molar teeth) then appear
between the 12th and 15th year, making
28 teeth in all.

• The last 4 teeth (called wisdom teeth) are

molars right at the back of the mouth; they
may appear at the 17th year, or up to
several years later.

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• This then completes the full set of 32
permanent teeth in an adult.

• Teeth grow from buds in the jaw, and

gradually push through the surface of the
gum

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• Developing teeth (in a foetus) are shown
in Fig.23

• Teeth are supplied with blood vessels and

nerves, as they are growing structures; the
pulp cavity contains the blood vessels and
nerves, and it is large in young teeth.

• The outer cells of the teeth form hard

substances, in a manner similar to bone.

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Figure 23: Growth of teeth in embryo

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 Human dentition
• Dentition is the arrangement and growth of
teeth.

• Human dentition includes three types of

teeth: (a) incisors; these are flat chisel-
shaped teeth; (b) canines, which are
sharp, pointed teeth; (c) molars; these are
large, flat teeth with sharp edges for
cutting and grinding food.

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• These teeth are illustrated in Fig. 24.

• Molar teeth are usually classified as pre-

molars and molars; the main difference
being that molars are not found in milk
teeth, whereas pre-molars are found in
both milk teeth and permanent teeth.

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Figure 24: Types of teeth

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• The uses of the teeth are the same as
those described for other animals. Incisors
cut and tear food.

• Canine teeth are used to tear meat;

human canine teeth are not so well
developed as in carnivorous animals.

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• Molars are used to grind food to small
particles.

• The action of the teeth prepares food for.

the digestive juices.

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• The dentition of any animal can be written
as a dental formula, and the dental
formula for human dentition is:

2 1 2 3
i pm m
2 2
c
1 2 3

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 Figure 25:
Permanent teeth

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 Structure of a tooth
• The crown of a tooth is that part projecting
above the gum.

• It is covered on the outside by enamel, the

hardest substance produced in the body.

• The main bulk of the tooth is composed of

dentine, a hard bone like substance; this
surrounds a pulp cavity.
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• Inside the cavity is living tissue, called
pulp, which contains blood vessels and
nerves.

• An opening into the pulp cavity allows

entry for the blood vessels and nerves;
this opening becomes very small when the
tooth stops growing, and the root is then
said to be closed.

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• The tooth has a root which is sunk in a
socket in the jaw bone.

• The root is covered in cement, another

bone­like substance, and outside the
cement is a periodontal membrane,
which fixes the tooth in its socket.

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• The neck of the tooth is that part between
the crown and the jawbone.

• Incisors and canines usually have one

root, but molars have two or more roots.
Fig. 26.

• The insertion of a tooth in a socket makes

sure of a firm hold, firmer than if the tooth
were fused to the bone.

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Figure 26: Structure of the tooth

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 Digestion
• Digestion of foodstuffs takes place by
juices secreted by glands in different parts
of the alimentary canal.

• The watery juices contain enzymes, each

enzyme being specific for one chemical
reaction.

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• The body temperature is the optimum
temperature for the chemical activity of the
enzymes.

• The action of the enzymes is also

controlled by the acidity or alkalinity of the
medium, and the pH of each digestive
juice is appropriate for its enzymes.

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 The mouth
• Saliva contains the enzyme ptyalin
(salivary amylase), which acts on starch to
convert some of it to maltose, a
disaccharide, i.e. a complex sugar.

• Saliva is alkaline, as ptyalin acts only in an

alkaline medium.

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• Cooked starch is acted on more readily
than uncooked starch.

• Proteins and fats remain unchanged.

Saliva contains a large amount of water
and some mucus, the latter being used to
make the food bolus stick together.

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 The stomach
• The glands in the lining of the stomach
produce gastric juice, which contains an
enzyme, pepsin, and also hydrochloric
acid; other glands produce mucus.

• The acid neutralizes the alkaline saliva,

and stops the action of ptyalin.

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• Pepsin acts only in a strongly acid
medium, and this is provided by the
hydrochloric acid.

• Proteins in meat, fish, and vegetables,

are acted on by pepsin, and broken down
to simpler molecules of peptones; this is
the first stage in the digestion of proteins.

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• In young humans, another enzyme,
rennin, is also secreted.

• Rennin curdles milk by coagulating the

soluble proteins, and thus separating the
protein in milk from the fat.

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• The curds remain in the stomach long
enough for pepsin to act on the protein.

• There is no digestion of carbohydrates or

of fat in the stomach.

• Food takes about five hours to pass

through the stomach.

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• Since the stomach digests meat, it is
reasonable to enquire why it does not
digest itself.

• Different glands produce the two

compounds, pepsin and hydrochloric acid,
needed for protein digestion, and these
two substances do not meet until they are
mixed within the cavity of the stomach.

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• The secretion of mucus glands protects
the stomach lining, due to alkalinity; this is
the first defence.

• If acid production is in excess, then

occasionally the mechanism goes wrong,
and part of the stomach lining is digested;
a stomach ulcer is then formed at that part
of the lining.

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 The duodenum
• When the chyme in the stomach is
sufficiently fluid and sufficiently acid the
pyloric sphincter opens and the chyme
enters the duodenum.

• There it is mixed with bile and pancreatic

juice.

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 Bile
• The liver produces bile, which is a green
alkaline liquid containing bile pigments
and bile salts, but no enzymes.

• Bile is stored in the gall bladder and enters

the duodenum when necessary.

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• Bile lowers the surface tension of the
chyme, and thus emulsifies the fats
present in the liquid.

• Emulsification means that the fats are

dispersed in a colloidal solution in the
liquid, each oil globule being very small
and thus presenting a very large surface.

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• The bile pigments eventually produce the
brown colour of faeces.

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 Pancreatic juice
• The pancreas is a large gland which
secretes pancreatic juice.

• The juice is collected in the pancreatic

duct and passed into the duodenum.

• The pancreatic juice is alkaline and

neutralises the acid chyme.

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• There are three enzymes in pancreatic
juice, namely, pancreatic amylase,
pancreatic lipase, and trypsinogen.

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 Pancreatic amylase
• This enzyme acts in an alkaline medium
and breaks down undigested starch to
maltose.

• It completes the work of ptyalin.

• Action of the enzyme starts in the

duodenum and continues into the ileum.

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 Pancreatic lipase
• This enzyme acts on emulsified fat and
breaks down the fat to soluble glycerol
and insoluble fatty acids.

• The fatty acids react with alkali to form

soluble salts of the fatty acids.

• These salts are diffusible soaps.

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 Trypsinogen
• This secretion is an inactive form of an
enzyme.

• The intestinal wall secretes an enzyme,

enterokinase, which activates
trypsinogen, forming trypsin.

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• Trypsin acts on alkali-soluble proteins to
form peptones, and hydrolyses peptones
to polypeptides.

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 The jejunum and the ileum
• Glands at the base of the villi, in the
mucous lining of the small intestine,
secrete intestinal juice (succus entericus)
which contains the following enzymes:
enterokinase, maltase, invertase, lactase
and erepsin.

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• Intestinal juice is alkaline, as all the
enzymes require an alkaline medium.

• The action of enterokinase has been

described under trypsinogen.

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 Digestion of carbohydrate
• Maltase acts on maltose, produced by the
action of pancreatic juice, and breaks it
down to glucose, a diffusible
monosaccharide.

• Invertase acts on sucrose (found in sugar

cane), breaking it down to glucose and
fructose, both monosaccharides.

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• Lactase acts on lactose, which is milk
sugar, breaking it down to glucose and its
isomer, galactose.

• All carbohydrates are thus digested to

glucose, or other diffusible
monosaccharides.

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 Digestion of protein
• All proteins have been converted to
peptones and polypeptides by the time
they are passing along the small intestine.

• Erepsin converts peptones to amino

acids, completing the digestion of protein.

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 Digestion of fat
• No further action takes place after
digestion in the duodenum.

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 Final products of digestion
• The final products are glucose, amino
acids, glycerol, and salts of fatty acids
which are all small soluble molecules; they
are diffusible.

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• A summary of the digestive processes is
given in Fig. 27; the table emphasises the
fact that the three principal foodstuffs,
carbohydrate, protein, and fat, are
digested in stages in different parts of the
alimentary canal.

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 Figure 27: Summary of the digestive process
Food Stuff Starch Protein Fat
In mouth Some starch No action No action

Salivary amylase Maltose

In stomach No action No action
Pepsin Protein
Peptones
In small intestine All Starch Trypsinogen Fat
Amylase Lipase
Amylase, lipase, Maltose Peptone
trypsinogen Maltase Trypsin
Fatty acids
Maltase Trypsin and glycerol
Enterokinase Erepsin
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Erepsin
 Absorption
• No absorption of foodstuff take place in the
stomach or in the duodenum.

• Absorption starts in the jejunum and

continues in the ileum.

• The whole process of digestion is to convert

insoluble foodstuffs into diffusible products
which will pass the membranes lining the
intestinal wall.
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 Small intestine
• Absorption takes place over the whole
length of the small intestine but principally
in the ileum.

• The digested foodstuffs are moved down

the intestine by the muscular movements
of peristalsis, taking two to three hours to
pass from the stomach to the large
intestine.

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• The products of digestion are absorbed
through the villi on the intestinal wall.

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 Structure of villi
• The structure of a villus is shown in Fig. 28.

• It is a finger-like projection surrounded by a

wall of epithelial cells which acts as a
membrane.

• In the centre is a blind-ended tube, a lacteal,

which is connected to the lymphatic system
of the body
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Figure 28: Absorption

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Figure 29: Two Villi

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Figure 30: Part of the small intestine

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• The lacteal is surrounded by a network of
capillaries.

• An artery supplies blood to the capillaries,

which rejoin to form a vein.

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 Absorption by villi
• Glucose, amino acids, and vitamins diffuse
through the membrane surrounding, a
villus and then diffuse through the thin
walls of the capillaries into the blood.

• These products of digestion dissolve in the

blood, and are carried away, by the blood
in the veins, to other parts of the body.

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• Glycerol and the salts of the fatty acids
diffuse through the membrane surrounding
a villus, and then diffuse through the wall
of the lacteal.

• In the lacteal, the glycerol and fatty acids

recombine to form fats, and when mixed
with lymph in the lymphatic system, form a
milky liquid called chyle.

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• The lymphatic system joins the main blood
circulation, and the fats circulate in the
blood as insoluble fat; they are converted
to soluble fats in the liver (Excretion and
Homeostasis).

• Vitamins A and D are absorbed with the

fats into the lacteals.

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• Fig. 30 shows a diagrammatic drawing of
the small intestine.

• The intestine is attached to a mesentery,

which supports it, and also carries the
arteries bringing blood to the intestine, and
the veins taking blood away from the
intestine.

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• The mesenteric artery supplies blood to
the villi, and the., hepatic portal vein
conducts away all blood from the villi.

• The liquid mass entering the colon

contains indigestible substances, mainly
cellulose.

• Water is absorbed by the colon and the

contents gradually become solid, forming
faeces.

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• Glands in the mucous lining of the colon
secrete mucus to lubricate the passage of
the faeces.

• Inorganic salts are also absorbed through

the membranous lining of the colon.

• Peristalsis is slow in the colon; and it takes

about 12 hours for substances to pass the
whole length of the colon.

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• The contents of the colon are discharged
into the rectum about three or four times in
every twenty four hours.

• When the rectum is full, a feeling of weight

causes a desire for voiding.

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• Peristaltic contraction of the rectum, aided
by a voluntary contraction of the
abdominal muscles, voids the faeces
through the anus.

• A summary of ingestion, digestion and

absorption is given in Fig. 31.

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Figure 31: Diagrammatic summary of
Digestive Process

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 QUESTIONS
1. Describe the structure and functions of the
stomach.

2. Contrast the functions of the small intestine

and the large intestine. How is the structure of
each related to its functions?

3. Describe the entire process of eliminating

faeces from the alimentary canal.
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4. How is a piece of bread digested?

5. Describe the digestion of a piece of fish.

6. Describe the digestion and absorption of

butter.

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7. Give an account of the structure and functions
of a villus in the small intestine.

8. What are the uses of bile in the nutritional

processes of a man?

9. Describe, with the aid of a labelled diagram,

the structure and function of a molar tooth.

[Link] the use of incisors and molars in

eating a hard fruit, such as an apple.
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