What is the Digestive System?
- takes in food, digests it and excretes the remaining waste
- made up of the digestive tract organs and the accessory organs
What tissue is the digestive tract lined with?
epithelial tissue
What is the purpose of the epithelial tissue in the digestive tract?
- secrete mucous to protect the tract from digestive enzymes
- allow the food to pass smoothly along the tube
What is the pathway of food in the digestive system?
Mouth, Tongue, Esophagus, Stomach, (Liver, Gallbladder, Pancreas), Small Intestine, Large Intestine, Rectum, Anus
What is the function of the mouth?
- mechanical digestion through chewing
- chemical digestion through saliva
What is the function of the tongue?
- contains chemosensory receptor cells that allow us to taste
- contains papillae (taste buds)
What is the function of the epiglottis?
- trap door belonging to both digestive and respiratory system
- swallowing triggers the epiglottis to close over the trachea to prevent food and fluids from going into the lungs
What is the function of the esophagus?
- canal running from oral cavity to the stomach
- tongue pushes the bolus (food) into the esophagus
- bolus moves through peristalsis
What is the function of the stomach?
- break down bolus using hydrochloric acid
- the mucous membrane protects it from the acid
- the pylorus region is where the contents are emptied into the intestine
What is the function of the gall bladder?
- storage for bile
- bile is used to emulsify fats
- bile is released into the small intestine from the common bile duct
What is the function of the small intestine?
- continues to break down food into liquid form
- primary site of NUTRIENT ABSORPTION
- absorbed through villi of intestine
- remaining contents starts to turn into feces as it moves along by peristalsis
What is the function of the large intestine?
- storage and elimination of waste leftovers
- as the nutritional fluids are absorbed, the leftover gets more solid and compact
What is the function of the rectum?
- temporary storage for feces
- receptors from the nervous system tells the body to defecate
What is the function of the appendix (accessory organ)?
- little is understood
- sometimes food gets stuck and causes an infection called appendicitis
What is the function of the liver (accessory organ)?
- secretes bile
What is the function of the pancreas?
- releases insulin if blood sugar is high
- releases glucagon if blood sugar is low
What are the hollow organs of the digestive system?
mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and anus
