As the saying goes, “You are what you eat.

” Let’s see what

adds to your health yesterday. List down your meal yesterday.

BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER

How do you think your body “absorbs”
the food you eat?
Digestive System

• It is composed of a series of connected organs

whose purpose is to break down or digest, the
food we eat.
• It also performs absorption of nutrients that
is essential for the growth of an organism.
• All animals have a digestive system making
them unique from plants and other organisms.
• 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.
 TWO GROUPS OF ORGANS THAT
COMPOSE THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
• GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT
(ALIMENTARY CANAL)
• ACCESORY DIGESTIVE ORGANS
Gastrointestinal Tract(GI Tract)
•It is a continuous tube that extends
from the mouth to the anus.

•Gastrointestinal tract includes organs

such as mouth, most of the pharynx,
esophagus, stomach, and the small and
large intestine.
Accessory Digestive Organs
• These are the organs that perform in secreting
chemical substances (chemically) that aids for
chemical digestion and for breaking food
(mechanically) into smaller pieces.
• It includes organs like teeth, tongue, salivary
glands, liver, gall bladder, and pancreas.
SIX BASIC PROCESSES PERFORMED BY THE DIGESTIVE
SYSTEM
1. INGESTION
2. SECRETION
3. MIXING AND PROPULSION
4. DIGESTION
5. ABSORPTION
6. DEFECATION
 INGESTION
• The process that involves taking foods and liquids
into the mouth (eating).

SECRETION
• Secretion of substances like water, acid,
buffers, and enzyme by the wall of the GI tract
and accessory digestive organs.
 MIXING AND PROPULSION
• Alternating contraction and relaxation of the
smooth muscles in the walls of the GI tract,
perform in mixing, secretion, and propel food.

DIGESTION
• The mechanical and chemical process of
breaking down of ingested food into small
simple molecules.
 ABSORPTION
• The entrance of small molecules (ions,
amino acid, fatty acid, etc.) that came
from digestion into the epithelial cells
of the GI tract.

• These absorbed substances pass into

blood or lymph and circulate to cells
throughout the body.
 DEFECATION

• The elimination of wastes, indigestible

substances, bacteria, cells that sloughed
off the GI tract, and digested materials
that were not absorbed towards the anus.
SIX BASIC PROCESSES PERFORMED BY THE DIGESTIVE
SYSTEM
1. INGESTION
2. SECRETION
3. MIXING AND PROPULSION
4. DIGESTION
5. ABSORPTION
6. DEFECATION
 Mouth
• It is also called the oral cavity.
• The entrance of food to the digestive system.
• The first site of digestion (carbohydrate
digestion)
• It is where mastication (chewing) happens.
The mouth have accessory parts like;
• TEETH (used for chewing, grinding and
tearing food)
• SALIVARY GLANDS (secretes saliva that
contains salivary amylase used for
carbohydrate digestion)
• TONGUE (aids for the mechanical mixing of
food in the mouth forming a bolus)
 TEETH
• This is the accessory digestive organ that
aids for the grinding, tearing, cutting, and
chewing of the ingested food.
• Solid foods are reduced to smaller particles
for swallowing.
TWO DENTITIONS (SET OF TEETH) OF
HUMANS

DECIDUOUS TEETH
PERMANENT TEETH
 DECIDUOUS TEETH
• It is also called the primary teeth, milk
teeth or baby teeth.
• It arises at about 6 months of age, one pair
of teeth arises each month until 20 teeth is
present.
• Deciduous teeth are lost during ages 6 to 12
years and replaced by the permanent teeth.
 PERMANENT TEETH
• These are the 32 permanent teeth that will replace
the milk teeth.
• It arises from age 6 up to adulthood.

WISDOM TOOTH
• It is the third molar that arises after the age of
17.
 SALIVARY GLANDS
These are exocrine glands that secretes the
substance called saliva.
There are three major salivary glands in our
mouth and these are;
PAROTID GLAND
SUBMANDIBULAR GLAND
SUBLINGUAL GLAND
 SALIVA is used for the following:
• Protects the inner lining of the mouth
• Lubricates solid food for easier swallowing
• Neutralizes food acids
• Kills many potentially harmful bacteria
• Contains the enzyme called salivary amylase
that begins the breakdown of starch
 TONGUE
• The strongest muscle in our body.
• It posses the taste buds that are essential
for our sense of taste.
• It is also used for making BOLUS (a soft
rounded mass of food that is to be
swallowed).
 PHARYNX
• A funnel shape organ where air and food
meets.
• The pharynx is part of the digestive system
and respiratory system of many organisms.
• The pharynx contains a flap of connective
tissue called the epiglottis closes over the
trachea when food is swallowed to prevent
choking.
 ESOPHAGUS
• It is also known as gullet.
• Esophagus is an organ in vertebrates which
consists of a muscular tube through which
food passes from the pharynx to the
stomach.
• It is usually about 25–30 cm long and
connects the mouth to the stomach.
 STOMACH
• It is a hallow sac shape organ found between the
esophagus and the small intestine.
• The stomach produces protease enzymes and
hydrochloric acid which kills bacteria and gives
the right pH for the protease enzyme to work.
• It is involved in the second phase of digestion
producing a soupy liquid substance called chyme.
The stomach posses two sphincter muscle
that prevent the backflow of chyme.
The stomach posses two sphincter
muscles and these are;
Esophageal sphincter –found at the end
of the esophagus.
Pyloric sphincter – found at the anterior
end of the small intestine.
 CONTROL OF SECRETION AND
MOTILITY OF THE STOMACH

The movement and the flow of chemicals

into the stomach are controlled by both
the autonomic nervous system and by the
various digestive system hormones.
 PANCREAS
• It is gland or an organ in the digestive and
endocrine system of vertebrates.
• It is an organ that aids the digestion process
in the small intestine.
• It has a common pancreatic duct connected
to the small intestine.
 PANCREAS
• It is gland or an organ in the digestive and
endocrine system of vertebrates.
• It is an organ that aids the digestion process
in the small intestine.
• It has a common pancreatic duct connected
to the small intestine.
• It is an exocrine gland, secreting pancreatic
juice containing digestive enzymes that pass
to the small intestine, these enzymes further
helps further breakdown of the
carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the
chyme.
 FUNCTION OF THE
PANCREAS
The pancreas is a dual-function gland,
having features of both endocrine and
exocrine glands which is carried out by two
cells and these are;
Islet of Langerhans-(Insulin)
Pancreatic acini-(Enzymes)
 FOUR DIGESTIVE ENZYMES PRODUCED
BY THE PANCREATIC ACINI ARE;
• TRYPSIN
• CHYMOTRYPSIN
• PANCREATIC LIPASE
• PANCREATIC AMYLASE
 TRYPSIN
It is used for the digestion of proteins.
CHYMOTRYPSIN
It is used for digestion of proteins.
PANCREATIC LIPASE
It is used for digestion of lipids.
PANCREATIC AMYLASE
It is used for digestion of carbohydrates.
 LIVER
• The heaviest gland of the body,
weighing about 1.4 kg. in an average
adult, the second largest organ in our
body.
• Located just below the diaphragm.
• The function of the liver is carried out
by the cells called hepatocytes.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE LIVER
• Glycogen storage
• Decomposition of red blood cells
• Plasma protein synthesis
• Hormone production
• Detoxification of substances we intake
• Activation of Vitamin D
• Production of bile
 BILE
• It is a yellowish substance produced by
the liver and stored in the gall bladder.
• Bile is used for the emulsification of
fats (digestion of fats) we eat.
 GALL BLADDER
• Is a small non-vital organ that aids in
the digestive process and stores bile
produced in the liver.
• Gallbladder measures approximately 8 cm
in length and 4 cm in diameter when
fully distended.
• It has a common bile duct connected to
the small intestine.
 FUNCTIONS OF THE GALL
BLADDER
• Adult human gallbladder stores about
50 milliliters of bile.
 SMALL INTESTINE
• The part of the gastrointestinal tract
(gut) following the stomach and
followed by the large intestine.
• It is where the vast majority of
digestion and absorption of food takes
place.
 SIZE OF THE SMALL
INTESTINE
• The small intestine in an adult human
measures on average about 5 meters (16
feet), with a normal range of 3 - 7 meters.
• It is approximately 2.5-3 cm in diameter
much smaller than the diameter of the large
intestine.
 DIVISION OF THE SMALL
INTESTINE
Small intestine is divided into three major
parts and these are;
DUODENUM 26 cm (9.8 in) in length
JEJUNUM 2.5 m (8.2 ft)
ILEUM 3.5 m (11.5 ft)
• The site where most chemical digestion
takes place.
• Most of the digestive enzymes that
act in the small intestine are secreted
by the pancreas and enter the small
intestine via the pancreatic duct.
The three major classes of nutrients that
undergo digestion and these are;

PROTEINS
LIPIDS
CARBOHYDRATES
• Proteins and peptides are degraded
into amino acids.
• Chemical breakdown begins in the
stomach and continues in the small
intestine.
• Proteolytic enzymes, including trypsin
and chymotrypsin, are secreted by the
pancreas and cleave proteins into
smaller peptides.
• Lipids (fats) are degraded into fatty acids
and glycerol.
• Pancreatic lipase breaks down triglycerides
into free fatty acids and glycerol.
• Pancreatic lipase works with the help of the
salts from the bile secreted by the liver and
the gall bladder.
• Bile salts attach to triglycerides to help
emulsify them, which aids access by
pancreatic lipase.
• Carbohydrates are degraded into simple
sugars, or monosaccharides (e.g., glucose).
• Pancreatic amylase breaks down some
carbohydrates (starch) into simple sugar.
• Some carbohydrates, such as cellulose, are
not digested at all.
 ABSORPTION
• The process by which digested substances
is absorb by the body to create complex
molecules such as proteins and energy.
• Digested substances (simple molecules)
can easily pass the blood vessel through
the process called diffusion.
• The cells of the small intestine posses
small hair-like projections called microvilli
that increases nutrient absorption in the
small intestine.
• Absorption of the majority of nutrients
takes place in the jejunum.
• Iron is absorbed in the duodenum.
• Vitamin B12 and bile salts are absorbed in
the terminal ileum.
• Water and lipids are absorbed by passive
diffusion throughout the small intestine.
• Sodium is absorbed by active transport
and glucose and amino acid symporter.
• Fructose is absorbed by facilitated
diffusion.
 LARGE INTESTINE
• The large intestine is the second to
last part of the digestive system.
• Its function is to absorb water from
the remaining indigestible food
matter, and then to pass useless
waste material from the body.
The large intestine is consist of three
major parts and these are;
CECUM
COLON
RECTUM
 CECUM
Is a pouch, connecting the ileum of the
small intestine with the ascending colon
of the large intestine.
 APPENDIX
• Is a hollow finger-like projection that hangs
from the cecum at the junction between the
small intestine and the large intestine.
• The appendix does not function in humans.
• If food gets trapped in the appendix, an
irritation of its membranes may occur leading
to swelling and inflammation, a condition
known as appendicitis.
 COLON
• The part of the large intestine that
extracts water and salt from solid
wastes before they are eliminated
from the body, and is the site in
which microbial (bacteria)
fermentation of unabsorbed material
occurs.
The colon is divided into 4 major sections and these
are;
ASCENDING COLON
TRANSVERSE COLON
DESCENDING COLON
SIGMOID COLON
 RECTUM
• Final straight portion of the large intestine.
• The human rectum is about 12 cm long.
• Body temperature can also be taken in the
rectum.
• Rectal temperature can be taken by inserting
a medical thermometer not more than 25 mm
(1 inch) into the rectum via the anus.
 BACTERIAL FLORA OF THE
LARGE INTESTINE
• The large intestine houses over 700
species of bacteria that perform a variety
of functions.
• These bacteria also produce large amounts
of vitamins, especially vitamin K and Biotin
(a B vitamin), for absorption into the
blood.
• Other bacterial products include gas
(flatus), which is a mixture of
nitrogen and carbon dioxide, with
small amounts of the gases
hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen
sulphide.
 BACTERIA FOUND IN LARGE
INTESTINE
BACTEROIDES –bacilli bacteria, often cause
appendicitis.
BIFIDOBACTERIA –motile bacteria, often aids
for digestion process of left over food in the
colon.
COMMENSAL BACTERIA – bacteria that
inhabits the mucus membrane of the large
intestine.
 ANUS
• An opening at the opposite end of an
animal's digestive tract from the
mouth.
• Its function is to control the expulsion
of feces.
• Flow of substance through the anus is
typically controlled by the anal
sphincter muscle.
ACTIVITY 4. 2 (Printed)
There are different diseases of the digestive system – ranging
from simplest to complex diseases that may require a medical
attention. Search one illness of the digestive system and a
picture of it. Be a doctor and complete the table below.

Name of Illness

Description

Cause
Paste the picture here .

Signs & Symptoms

Cure