Chapter 4: Food and Digestion

Textbook pages
52–69

Chapter overview
This chapter covers the contents of a balanced diet, the basic structures and functions of biological
molecules, biochemical tests for biological molecules, the structure and function of the digestive
system and the digestion and absorption of nutrients.

What to expect
Specification areas covered:
2.7 identify the chemical elements present in carbohydrates, proteins and lipids (fats and oils)

2.8 describe the structure of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids as large molecules made up from
smaller basic units: starch and glycogen from simple sugars, protein from amino acids, and lipid from
fatty acids and glycerol

2.9 practical: investigate food samples for the presence of glucose, starch, protein and fat

2.24 understand that a balanced diet should include appropriate proportions of carbohydrate,
protein, lipid, vitamins, minerals, water and dietary fibre

2.25 identify the sources and describe the functions of carbohydrate, protein, lipid (fats and oils),
vitamins A, C and D, the mineral ions calcium and iron, water and dietary fibre as components of the
diet

2.26 understand how energy requirements vary with activity levels, age and pregnancy

2.27 describe the structure and function of the human alimentary canal, including the mouth,
oesophagus, stomach, small intestine (duodenum and ileum), large intestine (colon and rectum) and
pancreas

2.28 understand how food is moved through the gut by peristalsis

2.29 understand the role of digestive enzymes, including the digestion of starch to glucose by
amylase and maltase, the digestion of proteins to amino acids by proteases and the digestion of
lipids to fatty acids and glycerol by lipases

2.30 understand that bile is produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder

2.31 understand the role of bile in neutralising stomach acid and emulsifying lipids

2.32 understand how the small intestine is adapted for absorption, including the structure of a villus

2.33B practical: investigate the energy content in a food sample

There is a lot of content in this chapter and it draws from sections 2(c) biological molecules and 2(e)
nutrition of the specification.

A good way of structuring this chapter is to start with the contents of a balanced diet and then
examine the biochemistry of each of the food groups. Dietary requirements and diets can be
analysed, including the practical to investigate the energy content of food, and then the structure of

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the digestive system introduced. The role of digestive enzymes and bile should then be considered
before the adaptations of the small intestine.

There are a great many links with Chapter 1, and both enzymes and transport across membranes
should be revisited.

Teaching notes
 Demonstrate the key components of a balanced diet by showing students food samples and
asking them to suggest what is found in each.
 Test different food groups for protein, starch, glucose and fat. Standard solutions of each
food type can be tested to demonstrate the results. Real samples of food can then be tested
to see which of the food groups are found in them.
 Students should keep a log of their diets for several days. The diet can then be analysed to
determine how close it is to the RDAs for their age group.
 Data can be analysed by students to compare the balanced diets of men, women, different
ages and pregnant women.
 Students can carry out a research project to understand malnutrition. This can examine both
the problems of a lack of dietary elements in developing nations (e.g. lack of protein, vitamin
A, etc.) and an excess of fat and carbohydrate (e.g. obesity and type 2 diabetes). This could
be presented as a health education poster, leaflet or even video presentation.
 Students can label a diagram of the alimentary canal on A3 paper and include the location of
enzymes and bile and the digestive products. This can be carried out while demonstrating a
model gut (see practicals).
 Peristalsis can be demonstrated by squeezing a tennis ball through a pair of tights.
 There are many possible enzyme practicals that can be carried out as class practicals or
demonstrations (see practicals).
 Plastic pop beads or children’s’ bracelets can be used to demonstrate the nature of
macromolecules and their digestion.
 Bile can be investigated by comparing the rate of lipid digestion in milk.
 The role of villi can be investigated by analysing the growth rates of patients with coeliac
disease comparing to unaffected people.

Possible misunderstandings
 Students should be clear that the chemical elements found in carbohydrates, lipids and
proteins are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen (proteins only). Many students confuse
the term, ‘element’ with the monomers found in macromolecules. For example, starch is
composed of repeating monomers of glucose; the elements found in starch are carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen. This should be stressed by looking at molecular models of molecules.
If molecular modelling kits are not available, students can make their own using craft
materials.
 Many students do not use the term ‘digestion’ precisely to refer to the breakdown of food.
 Many students find the function of bile difficult to explain, particularly emulsification. Bile is
often confused with being an enzyme. This can be reinforced by demonstrating that heated
bile still speeds up lipid digestion.
 Some students think that sugars are fats as they have heard that excess sugar in the diet
causes obesity. Showing students samples of fats compared to glucose powder can help with
this.

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Differentiation
 Pupils who find the work challenging may benefit from producing models (using beads or
similar materials) of molecules such as starch and then modelling their breakdown with
enzymes. A kinaesthetic approach that often works is to draw a large diagram of the gut on
the floor of a playground – students then walk through the gut and describe the events that
happen at each stage (e.g. starch is digested by amylase in the mouth).
 For extension, pupils could investigate the effect of other vitamins and minerals such as
iodine, magnesium and the different vitamin Bs. Other enzymes such as sucrase and lactase
could also be investigated. Investigations into lactose intolerance and the use of oral
rehydration therapy to treat cholera could be carried out.

Practicals
Practi cals in the textbook

Activity 3: Practical tests for starch, glucose, protein and lipid

 These practicals are very straightforward. The students should carry out the tests on known
samples and the practical can then be extended to the identification of mixtures of unknown
substances and then actual food.
 The need to heat the Benedict’s solution should be stressed.
 The hot water bath can be made using hot water from kettles if Bunsen burners are not
available. If Bunsen burners are used, the teacher should ensure that they are all
extinguished before starting the lipid test which uses ethanol.

Activity 4: Practical: Measuring the energy content of a food

 This practical should be thoroughly risk assessed before carrying it out. It uses burning food
that needs to be transferred from Bunsen burners to boiling tubes containing water.
 A range of different food substances, such as cereals (e.g. malted wheats), crispbread,
starchy crisps, should be trialled. Nuts should be avoided due to the risk of allergy and bread
should be stale with little water content as otherwise it will not burn. Stale bread with and
without butter can sometimes show a good comparison of the energy content of butter.
 This practical is very good for emphasising problems with accuracy. Much of the heat energy
is lost in transferring the food to the boiling tube, in heating up the mounted needle and
energy is also not accounted for if the food is not fully burnt. It is useful to have a diagram
(or apparatus) of a commercial calorimeter to demonstrate how it is an improvement – the
students can compare its design with their own experiment. If commercially made foods,
such as biscuits are used, the manufacturers’ energy values can be compared with the values
obtained by the students.

Additi onal practi cals

 Using DCPIP to determine the vitamin C content of different fruit juices.

 Investigating the role of amylase in digesting starch – this could be linked to Chapter 1
(factors affecting enzyme activity) and temperature and pH can be tested. Salivary amylase
can be used.
 Investigating the role of proteases in digesting protein. This can be done by investigating the
effect of pH on the digestion of casein by pepsin and trypsin (and linked to the conditions in
the stomach). If these enzymes are not available, the digestion of gelatine plates by
bromelain (a protease in pineapple juice extract) can be investigated.

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  Investigating the roles of lipase and bile on the digestion of fat. Lipase and lipase with bile
can be added to full fat milk, containing sodium carbonate and phenolphthalein, to
investigate their roles in the digestion of fat. The time taken for the milk to turn from pink to
white is a measure of rate of fatty acid production.
 The need for starch to be digested so that it can be absorbed can be investigated by placing
amylase and starch inside Visking tubing. The tubing is placed in water in a boiling tube and
the water in the boiling tube tested for glucose. A control experiment with no amylase
should be also carried out.

© Pearson Education Ltd 2018. Copying permitted for purchasing institution only. This material is
not copyright free.