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Name:_____________________________[ ] Class:______ Date:_________

Digestion in Human Beings

Chapter 26 (Vol. B)

Chapter Objectives

Why is food important for survival?

What is digestion?

What are the main parts of the human
digestive system?

What are enzymes and what do they
do?

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What is used to provide energy to power

these gadgets?

BATTERIES!!

What about humans?

Where is our energy source from??

FOOD!!!

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Other reasons for food consumption?

As raw materials for…
Healing of wounds

Growth

Other reasons to consume food?

For a healthy body

Malnutrition can lead to diseases
Rickets
Kwashiorkor

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Why do we need food???

In summary we need food for:

To provide energy for daily activities

Grow new cells

Repair worn out tissues

Maintain healthy body

What are our required nutrients?

Carbohydrates

Protein

Fats

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Carbohydrates

To provide the main source of energy to
carry out activities (e.g. respiration)

2 types: simple sugars and complex
carbohydrates

Carbohydrates
Type Example Found in…
Complex Starch Rice, potatoes, bread
carbohydrates
Cellulose Vegetables and fruits
Simple sugars Glucose Fruits
Sucrose
Maltose
Fructose

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Proteins

Proteins are complex molecules

Made of single units called amino
acids

Needed to make enzymes for the
body

Commonly found in:

Fats

Large, insoluble molecules

Made of 2 types of building block:
glycerol and fatty acids

Used as insulation under our skin

Commonly found in:

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What happened to our food???

Digested and
Egested (Passed out)

Why Must Most Food be

Broken Down?
•The cells in our body need nutrients for growth, respiration and tissue repair.

Problem: Our intestinal walls only allow small food molecules to

pass through.

Solution: Break down the food we eat into very small bits (by
digestion) so that the food molecules can be absorbed by the blood
and be transported to all parts of our body.
The food we eat consists of large and
complex molecules, such as starch, proteins
and fats.
They have to be broken down before
passing through the intestinal wall.

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Large food need to be smaller food into the

molecules broken into molecules bloodstream

Fats Glycerol + fatty acids

Starch Simple sugars (glucose)

Proteins Amino acids

pass through the intestinal wall

Digestion is the breaking down of large, complex food molecules
into smaller, simpler and soluble molecules.

So that simple sugars, vitamins, mineral salts and

water can be absorbed into our bloodstream directly.

Digestion
The are two main processes of digestion: Physical and Chemical

(a) Physical Digestion

Physical digestion breaks down the food into smaller pieces. It increases the
surface area of food but does not change its chemical structure.

Physical digestion is brought about by:

• chewing action in the mouth
• churning action by the stomach
• action of bile salts on fats in the small intestines

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(b) Chemical Digestion

Physical digestion of food is not enough to reduce them to
simper molecules, hence we need chemical digestion.

Chemical digestion breaks down large complex food

molecules into simpler food molecules. The process
involves enzymes.

Special types of proteins produced by our body

cells that can speed up specific chemical reactions.

Digestive Food
enzyme molecule Glucose

Fructose

How do enzymes work?

Why the need for digestion???

Fats (oil used
for deep frying)

Carbohydrates
(mainly in the
of form: starch)

Proteins (in
meat patty)

Large complex food molecules need to be broken down into smaller,
simpler, soluble molecules in order for nutrients to be absorbed by the
body

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Why the need for digestion???

Fats (oil for deep frying)

Carbohydrates (mainly
in the form of starch)

Proteins (in meat patty)

Nutrients (fats, carbohydrates & proteins) are

large molecules

These food molecules are too large to enter
cell

Hence they must be broken down (digested)
into smaller pieces to be used by the cells

How is Food Digested?

Enzymes are complex proteins found

in parts of the digestive system

They break down complex nutrients
into smaller molecules

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Properties of Enzymes

Enzymes speed up chemical process
of digestion.

Enzymes remain unchanged at the
end of the reaction (digestion) and
can be reused.

Enzymes are specific; one enzyme
can only digest one type of food
substances.

Types of Enzymes

Enzyme Acts on Digested Product(s)

Amylase Starch Maltose
Maltase Maltose Glucose
Protease Proteins Amino Acids
Lipase Fats Fatty acids & glycerol

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Enzymes

• Enzymes are specific. Each enzyme only works on one type of a

group of similar molecules (substrates), in a chemical reaction.
For e.g., Amylase (enzyme in your saliva) breaks starch into smaller sugars.

•Enzymes that help in digestion are called digestive enzymes.

Maltose
Starch Amylase Maltase
Glucose

Lipase
Fat Fatty
+ glycerol
acids

Protein Protease
Amino acids

Action of different types of enzymes on its different food types (substrates)

The Human Digestive System

salivary gland
mouth

oesophagus

liver
stomach
gall bladder pancreas
colon
small intestine
large
rectum intestine
anus

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The Mouth:
Digestion

Chemical Digestion Physical Digestion

Saliva secreted by
Teeth: (Chew food

salivary glands; into smaller pieces)
contains amylase:
Tongue: (Rolls food
(digest starch  into small balls –
easier to swallow)
maltose)

Saliva: Moisten and
soften food – easier to
swallow)

The mouth

food

oesophagus
windpipe

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The Oesophagus:
Digestion
NO digestion
occurs!!!!

Chemical Digestion Physical Digestion

Oesophagus is a long muscular tube that

contracts and relax to push food down to the
stomach- Peristalsis movement

The oesophagus-Peristalsis
movement
Muscles
contract to
push the food
ball down.

Muscles relax,
and the tube
widens for food
to move.

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The Stomach
Digestion

Chemical Digestion Physical Digestion

Acidic pH due to
Stomach a muscular

hydrochloric acid bag that contracts and
relax

Gastric juice secreted
by glands of stomach
Movement of stomach
wall mixes food well with
gastric juice for

Gastric juice contain
digestion
protease which digest
large proteins to smaller
proteins

The stomach

stomach

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Small Intestine

A long muscular tube

Main site of digestion and absorption

Small Intestine
Type of Produced Enzymes
juice by
Intestinal Small Lipase
intestine (digest fats  glycerol and fatty acids)
Amylase
(digest starch  maltose)
Pancreatic Pancreas Maltase
(digest maltose  glucose)
Protease
(digest small protein molecules  amino
acids)
Bile Liver Contains NO enzymes
Bile is use to emulsify fats (i.e break fats
into smaller fat droplets
Faster digestion of fats as surface area of
fats increases

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The small intestine, liver and pancreas

liver

gall bladder pancreas

small intestine

Emulsification

Bile

Large oil drop

Small oil droplets

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Large Intestine

Function: absorb water and mineral
salts in colon

Undigested food (e.g. cellulose –
fibre from vegetables and fruits)
become faeces, which is temporarily
stored in the rectum

Faeces is egested(removed from the
body) via the anus

The large intestine

large intestine

rectum
anus

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