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Human digestive system Flashcards

(61 cards)

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1
Q

What are the two stages of food digestion?

A
  • Physical breakdown
  • Chemical breakdown
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2
Q

What are the two parts of the physical breakdown of food?

A
  • Chewing
  • Stomach churning
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3
Q

What does physical breakdown do that helps with digestion?

A

Breaks solid food down into smaller pieces, increasing the surface area for enzymes to work on

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4
Q

What does chemical digestion do the break down food?

A

Enzymes break down complex molecules into simpler molecules by hydrolysis

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5
Q

What enzyme breaks down proteins and what are the products?

A

Protease
Amino acids

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6
Q

What enzyme breaks down lipids and what are the products?

A

Lipase
Fatty acids and glycerol

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7
Q

What enzyme breaks down starch and what are the products?

A

Carbohydrase (amylase)
Maltose

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8
Q

What enzyme breaks down maltose and what are the products?

A

Carbohydrase (maltase)
Alpha glucose

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9
Q

What does salivary amylase do?

A

Hydrolyses starch into maltose and glycogen into smaller polysaccharides

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10
Q

What does the mouth do in digestion?
(5 points)

A
  • Physical digestion by the teeth
  • Contains enzymes that can carry out chemical digestion
  • Saliva can lubricate to produce a bolus
  • Contains antibacterial agents
  • Salivary amylase HYDROLYSES starch into maltose and glycogen into smaller polysaccharides
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11
Q

What is peristalsis?

A

Waves or involuntary contraction of smooth muscle down the oesophagus

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12
Q

What is stomach walls made of?

A

Elastic fibres and smooth muscle

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13
Q

What do gastric pits do?

A
  • Secretes HCl
  • Secretes pepsinogen
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14
Q

What happens to pepsinogen when it enters the stomach?

A

The high pH turns it into pepsin which is an enzyme that can break down proteins

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15
Q

What can the liver produce?

A

Bile

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16
Q

What does bile contain?

A

Bile salts

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17
Q

What can bile salts do?

A

They break large fat droplets into smaller ones, increasing the surface area for enzymes to work on

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18
Q

What can the liver store?

A

Glycogen

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19
Q

What does the pancreas do in chemical digestion?

A

Produces many hydrolytic enzymes (pancreatic juice)

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20
Q

What enzymes does pancreatic juice contain?

A

Protease
Lipase
Amylase

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21
Q

Where is the ileum?

A

Small intestine

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22
Q

Where are enzymes produced in the ileum?

A

Walls and glands

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23
Q

How does the SI have a large surface area?

A

The inner walls (epithelial cells) are folded into villi and microvilli

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24
Q

What happens in the large intestine?

A

Water and ion absorption

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25
What does the LI have a lot of?
Intestinal flora
26
What does intestinal flora do?
Feed on undigested material
27
What waste products do the intestinal flora produce?
Methane Hydrogen sulphide Some vitamins
28
What happens in the rectum?
Faeces is stored here
29
What process is when faeces leaves the anus?
Egestion
30
Where does carbohydrate digestion begin?
In the mouth
31
What happens in the mouth in the process of carbohydrate digestion?
Starch is hydrolysed into maltose
32
What happens to the salivary amylase when it enters the stomach?
Stomach acid denatures the amylase
33
What helps with the breakdown of any remaining starch after the stomach?
The pancreas also releases amylase (pancreatic amylase) which enters the SI and finishes off any unbroken starch
34
How is the pH maintained in the SI? What is it maintained to?
Maintained at neutral by alkaline salts
35
Where does maltose get broken down?
In the ileum
36
What enzyme breaks down maltose?
Disaccharidase maltase
37
Where are disaccharides found in the ileum?
In the cell surface membrane of the epithelial cells of the ileum
38
What are two other common disaccharides that get digested in the ileum?
Sucrose and lactose
39
What group of enzymes break down proteins in the body?
Peptidases (proteases)
40
What are the 3 types of peptidases in the body?
- Endopeptidases - Exopeptidases - Dipeptidases
41
Where are endopeptidases found in the body?
Stomach and pancreas
42
What do endopeptidases do?
Hydrolyse the peptide bonds in the central area of the protein molecule
43
Where are exopeptidases found?
In the small intestine
44
What do exopeptidases do?
Hydrolyse the peptide bonds on the **terminal** ends of the protein molecule, including those made by endopeptidases
45
Where are dipeptidases found?
In cell membranes (membrane bound enzyme)
46
What do dipeptidases do?
Hydrolyse bonds between dipeptides, producing amino acids
47
What are lipids hydrolysed by?
Lipases
48
Where are lipases produced?
The pancreas
49
What do lipases do to lipids?
Hydrolyse the ester bonds found in triglycerides, forming a monoglyceride and two fatty acids
50
What is emulsification?
The process of breaking down large fat droplets into smaller ones, making it easier for digestive enzymes to act on them
51
What emulsifies lipids in the digestive system?
Bile salts
52
What are emulsified lipids called?
Micelles
53
How are lipids absorbed into the small intestine?
The fatty acids and monoglycerides stay with the bile salts as a micelle When the micelle comes into contact with the cell membrane, it breaks down, releasing the fatty acids and monoglyceride, which can **diffuse** through the phospholipid bilayer
54
What happens to the fatty acids and monoglyceride after they have diffused into the epithelial cell?
They go to the endoplasmic reticulum to be reformed into a triglyceride
55
Where does the newly reformed triglyceride in the epithelial cell go after being remade?
The Golgi apparatus
56
What happens to the triglyceride in the Golgi apparatus?
Joins the triglyceride with cholesterol and lipoproteins to form chylomicrons
57
What do chylomicrons used for?
Lipid transport
58
Where can chylomicrons move to?
Moves by exocytosis into the lymphatic system and into the blood.
59
How can lactose intolerance occur?
The gene for producing lactase is switched off
60
Why cant lactose be absorbed into the epithelial cells in the ileum?
Lactose is a disaccharide so needs to be hydrolysed by lactase into monosaccharides
61
What happens to the lactose if it isn't hydrolysed and absorbed in the ileum? (5 steps)
- Undigested lactose passes into the colon - Gut bacteria ferment the lactose, producing methane, CO2 and a number of small soluble products - The small soluble products lowers the water potential of the colon - Water moves in by osmosis - Diarrhoea is caused

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