Republic of the Philippines

SAMAR STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Catbalogan City, Samar
Telephone Numbers: (055)-542-8394/ (055)-251-2139
Website: www.ssu.edu.ph

Written Report

I. Course Number : Nat. Sci 302

II. Course Descriptive Title : Zoology
III. Credit Units : 5 units
IV. Professor/s : Joseph Jordan G. Villanueva
V. Academic Term & School Year : Second Semester, SY 2017-2018
VI. Submitted by : Maria Divina V. Santiago

THE HUMAN DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

INTRODUCTION

The digestive system is used for

breaking down food into nutrients
which then pass into the circulatory
system and are taken to where they
are needed in the body.
Without food, water and oxygen,
human beings could not survive.
The digestive system is a set of
organs which change what we eat
into substances that can be used in
the body.
These substances can be used for
energy, growth and repair.

Functions
1. Digestion
 Breakdown of ingested food
 Absorption of nutrients into
the blood

2. Once the nutrients are absorbed by the digestive system they are transported by the
blood to the tissues for metabolism.
 Production of cellular energy (ATP)
 Constructive and degradative cellular activities
TYPES OF DIGESTION

Digestion is a catabolic process in which large complex molecules (carbohydrates,

lipids, proteins, nucleic acids) are broken down into simpler monomers
(monosaccharides, glycerol and fatty acids, amino acids, and nucleotides) which can be
absorbed by the body.
There are two forms of digestion:
a. PHYSICAL: There is no chemical change in the food. The food is simply broken
down into smaller pieces and mixed with digestive juices secreted in the body.
b. CHEMICAL: There is a chemical change in the food. The polymers are broken
down into monomers commonly by hydrolysis reactions carried out by enzymes
contained within the digestive juices.

SIX PROCESSES OF DIGESTION

1. Ingestion – getting food into the mouth

2. Propulsion – moving foods from one region of the

digestive system to another

3. Mechanical digestion
 Mixing of food in the mouth by the tongue
 Churning of food in the stomach
 Segmentation in the small intestine

4. Chemical Digestion
 Enzymes break down food molecules into their
building blocks
 Each major food group uses different enzymes
 Carbohydrates are broken to simple sugars
 Proteins are broken to amino acids
 Fats are broken to fatty acids and alcohols

5. Absorption
 End products of digestion are absorbed in the blood or lymph
 Food must enter mucosal cells and then into blood or lymph capillaries

6. Defecation
 Elimination of indigestible substances as feces

In the human digestive system, the process of digestion has many stages, the first of
which starts in the mouth (oral cavity). Digestion involves the breakdown of food into
smaller and smaller components which can be absorbed and assimilated into the body.
The secretion of saliva helps to produce a bolus which can be swallowed in the
esophagus to pass down into the stomach.
This initially results in the production of chyme which when fully broken down in the
small intestine is absorbed into the blood.
Most of the digestion of food takes place in the small intestine. Water and some
minerals are reabsorbed back into the blood, in the colon of the large intestine.
The waste products of digestion are defecated from the anus via the rectum.
DIVISIONS OF DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

A. Alimentary Canal

 Continuous, muscular digestive tube winding throughout the body

 Digests and absorbs food particles
 Contains the following organs:
- Mouth - Stomach - Large
- Pharynx - Small Intestine
- Esophagus Intestine - Anus

B. Accessory Digestive Organs

- Teeth - Salivary - Liver

- Gallbladder Glands - Pancreas

MOUTH

 Begins when food enters the mouth.

 It is physically broken down by the teeth.
 It is begun to be chemically broken down by amylase, an enzyme in saliva that
breaks down carbohydrates.

Functions:

 Mastication (chewing) of food

 Mixing masticated food with saliva
 Initiation of swallowing by the tongue
 Allowing for the sense of taste

Lips: possess no sweat or oil glands

Palate: forms roof of the mouth, soft and hard palate, uvula
Uvula: fleshy projection of the soft palate
Vestibule: area bounded by lips and cheeks externally and teeth and gums internally
Oral cavity: area contained by the teeth
Tongue: attached at hyoid and styloid processes of the skull, and by the lingual
frenulum
SALIVARY GLANDS

 Produces and secretes saliva

 Cleanses the mouth
 Dissolves food chemicals so they
can be tasted
 Moistens food, forming it into a
bolus
 Contains salivary amylase to begin
starch digestion

Types of Salivary Glands

 Submandibular Glands - Found

underneath the mandible
 Sublingual Glands -Found
underneath the tongue
 Parotid Glands - Found anterior to
the ear between masseter and skin

TEETH

 Break food into smaller parts, increasing surface

area for digestion
 Humans have two sets of teeth
 Deciduous Teeth (“baby” or “milk” teeth) -
20 teeth are fully formed by age two
 Permanent Teeth - Replace deciduous
teeth; beginning between the ages of 6 to
12; A full set is 32 teeth but some people
do not have wisdom teeth

Types of Teeth

• Incisors - cutting and shredding

• Canines - piercing and tearing
• Molars - grinding
• Premolars – crushing

Tooth Structure
Crown – exposed part

• Outer enamel
• Dentin
• Pulp cavity
Neck

• Region in contact with the gum

• Connects crown to root
Root

• Periodontal membrane attached to the bone

• Root canal carrying blood vessels and nerves
PHARYNX

• The bolus is passed to the pharynx (throat) and the epiglottis makes sure the
bolus passes into the esophagus.
• Serves as a passageway for air and food
• Food is propelled to the esophagus by two
muscle layers
 Longitudinal inner layer
 Circular outer layer
• Food movement is by alternating contractions
of the muscle layers (peristalsis)
Divisions of Pharynx

• Nasopharynx - Behind nasal cavity

• Oropharynx - Behind oral cavity
• Laryngopharynx - Behind larynx; continues as esophagus

ESOPHAGUS

• Approximately 10” long

• Runs from pharynx to stomach through the diaphragm
• Functions include:
 Secrete mucus
 Moves food from the throat to the stomach
using muscle movement called peristalsis
• Sphincters – ring of muscle that encircle tubes.
 Contraction closes tubes
 Keeps acid in stomach
• The bolus passes down the esophagus by peristalsis.
• Peristalsis is a wave of muscular contractions that
push the bolus down towards the stomach.
 A good way to describe peristalsis is an ocean
wave moving through the muscle.
 Has no role in chemical digestion
 All it does is bring food (BOLUS) to stomach.
• To enter the stomach, the bolus must pass through the lower esophageal
sphincter, a tight muscle that keeps stomach acid out of the esophagus.

DIGESTIVE PROCESSES IN THE MOUTH, PHARYNX, AND ESOPHAGUS

Mouth processes:
 Ingestion
 Mechanical digestion (e.g. salivary amylase)
 Initiation of Propulsion
 Mastication: chewing

Pharyngeal processes:
 Deglutition = swallowing
 Voluntary Buccal phase
 Involuntary Pharyngeal-Esophageal Phase

Esophageal processes:
• Peristalsis (rhythmic contractions, involuntary)
STOMACH

• It is a J-shaped, elastic organ.

• Food enters it from the esophagus
through the cardiac sphincter.
• The cardiac sphincter, is a valve that
stops back flow of the stomach`s
contents.
• Food leaves the stomach through the
pyloric sphincter into the duodenum
(first part of the small intestine).
• The walls of the stomach are made up
of layers of muscle.
• It has an inner mucous membrane.
• This membrane has lots of folds.
• When the stomach is full these folds
stretch out, enabling it to expand, then
they contract when the stomach empties.
• The stomach acts as a temporary storage site for food.
• Food usually spends about 4 hours in the stomach.
• It has ridges which allow it to expand to store about 1.5 liters of food.
• The stomach is also the site of initial protein digestion.
• Millions of cells lining the stomach secrete various fluids known collectively as
gastric fluids.
• Gastric fluid consists of mucus, hydrochloric acid, pepsinogens and other
substances.
• Pepsin is a protein digesting enzyme that breaks large protein chains Movement
of food into and out of the stomach is controlled by circular muscles known as
sphincters.
• Another located at the bottom slowly releases partially digested food into the
small intestine.
• Alcohol and some water are absorbed here.
• The partially digested food is called chime.

THE INTESTINES

• The intestines are named for their diameter, not length.

• The small intestine is up to 7 m in length but only 2.5 cm in diameter.
• The large intestine (also known as the Colon) is only 1.5 m in length but 7.6 cm
in diameter.

SMALL INTESTINE

• Chyme is now in the small intestine.

• The majority of absorption occurs here.
• The liver and pancreas help the small intestine to
maximize absorption.
• The small intestine is broken down into three
parts:
 duodenum
 jejunum
 ileum
DUODENUM (25cm = 10 inches) “12 finger widths long”
• Bile, produced in the liver but stored in the gall bladder, enters through the bile
duct. It breaks down fats.
• The pancreas secretes pancreatic juice to reduce the acidity of the chyme.

JEJUNUM (2.5m = 8 feet) “empty”

• The jejunum is where the majority of absorption takes place.
• It has tiny fingerlike projections called villi lining it, which increase the surface
area for absorbing nutrients.
• Each villi itself has tiny fingerlike projections called microvilli, which further
increase the surface area for absorption.

ILEUM (3.6m = 12 feet) “twisted”

• The last portion of the small intestine is the ileum, which has fewer villi and
basically compacts the leftovers to pass through the caecum into the large
intestine.

LARGE INTESTINE

• It deals with waste.

• It is about 1.5m long.
• It consists of the following:
 The caecum: a small pouch; the ileum empties its contents into the
caecum through the ileocecal valve.
 The colon: ascending, transverse, descending colon.
 The appendix: narrow tube attached to the caecum.
 The rectum
 The anus: external body opening
• The large intestine (or colon) is used to absorb water from the waste material
leftover and to produce vitamin K and some B vitamins using the helpful bacteria
that live here.
• All leftover waste is compacted and stored at the end of the large intestine called
the rectum.
• When full, the anal sphincter loosens and the waste, called feces, passes out of
the body through the anus.
PANCREAS

• An organ which secretes both digestive

enzymes (exocrine) and hormones
(endocrine)
• Pancreatic juice digests all major
nutrient types.
• Exocrine pancreas produces NaHCO3,
amylase (starch), trypsin (protein) and
lipase (fat).
• Endocrine pancreas produces insulin
and glucagon.

LIVER

• Liver is the heaviest gland of the body.

• 100,000 lobules monitor and clean blood, produce
bile for gallbladder.
• Detoxify blood, store iron, vitamins A, D, E and K.
• Helps regulate blood sugar (glycogen, glycerol,
Amino acids), destroys old blood cells.
• Helps regulate cholesterol (bile salts).
• Makes urea which is worked on by kidneys

GALLBLADDER

• Pouch structure located near the liver

which concentrates and stores bile
• Bile duct – a long tube that carries BILE.
• The top half of the common bile duct is
associated with the liver.
• The bottom half of the common bile duct is
associated with the pancreas; through
which it passes on its way to the intestine.
• Bile emulsifies lipids (physically breaks
apart FATS)

DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

 The alimentary canal is a continuous tube by the fifth week of development

 Digestive glands bud from the mucosa of the alimentary tube
 The developing fetus receives all nutrients through the placenta
 In newborns, feeding must be frequent, peristalsis is inefficient, and vomiting is
common
 Teething begins around age six months
 Metabolism decreases with old age
 Middle age digestive problems
 Ulcers
 Gall bladder problems
 Activity of digestive tract in old age
 Fewer digestive juices
 Peristalsis slows
 Diverticulosis and cancer are more common