IB Biology 6.1 Digestion Notes

Key terms
Word Definition
Digestion Breaking down of polymers
Peristalsis Wave of muscle contractions in the alimentary canal that moves food down
digestive process
Alimentary canal Tube that carries food as it gets digested
Notes
● Parts of system:
○ Mouth: chewing (mech digestion), saliva moistens
food to make a bolus for swallowing; salivary amylase
begins chem digestion of starch
○ Esophagus: wave of muscle contractions (peristalsis)
pushes bolus into stomach
○ Stomach: muscular contractions cont mech digestion;
acid kills bacteria; pepsin begins digestion of proteins
■ Hydrochloric acid to kill any pathogens in food
○ Duodenum (small intenstine): bile from liver & gall bladder neutralize acid &
emulsifies fats; pancreatic amylase & lipase digest carbs & fats; trypsin digests
polypeptides to amino acids
○ Ileum (small intestine): lower half of small intestine absorbs nutrients into blood,
via villi
■ Small intestine narrow but v/ long
■ Villi are specialized for absorption & have extremely thin walls that are
only 1 cell thick
● Have plentiful blood supply to maintain a __ concentration
gradient
● Increases membrane’s surface area
● Digestive enzymes present on surface to aid digestion
● Villus capillaries collect amino acids & simple sugars absorbed by
the villi & transported into the bloodstream
○ Large intestine (shorter but wider than small intestine, goes around small int):
water absorbed/reclaimed & returned to blood, leaving semi-solid feces - stored
in rectum
○ Egestion (not excretion, which is getting rid of metabolic processes/chemical
reactions, e.g. respiration): feces (containing undigested food, dead cells, & other
waste) forced out of anus
● Bulk of abdomen is digestive system
● Fats absorbed into lymph, not blood b/c it can’t be dissolved in water
● Accesory organs (not part of tube but connected to it): gall bladder, liver, & pancreas
● Small intestine: completes digestion of food molecules - site of final stage of digestion &
absorption of nutrients
○ Chyme: enters duodenum (first section)
○ Bile from gallbladder and liver emptied into duodenum, neutralizing the acid &
emulsifying fats
■ By the time it reaches duodenum, no more digestion, only absorption
○ Ileum joins small & large intestine - still absorption happening here
○ Diagram 2: tissue made of many cells
○ Villi increases surface area of small int’s internal structure - contain capillaries
(blood supply) & lacteals (lymph vessels) (for lipids or fat-soluble)
○ Lumen: tube inside small intestine
○ Surface area increased by adding membrane folds
○ Pancreatic enzymes released (amylase, trypsin)
○ Peristalsis moves food through alimentary canal: 2 muscles
■ Longitudinal muscle on outside
● Like trying to push down a ball in water – relaxes ahead of the
bolus, contracting in line/ where the bolus is, elongating it until it
pushes out
■ Circular muscle on inside
● Works like toothpaste, pushes bolus down from behind
■ Pressing it all together ensures enzymes mix together w/ food
■ Cramping: muscles not in sync, not able to work properly
■ Or if food is getting digested too quickly, muscles won’t work properly
■ Diarrhea: absorption & digestion quickly carried out w/ more water to rid
body of toxins
● Assimilation: after digestion & absorption - update of these molecules into the blood;
once in blood, they’re carried to tissues where they’re assimilated (taken in to be used)
● Membrane transport involved in absorption of nutrients from small intestine
○ Simple diffusion: lipids → b/c lipids are non-polar, they can pass freely thru
hydrophobic core of plasma membrane into epithelial cells (down concentration
gradient)
○ Facilitated diffusion: fructose & vitamins → water-soluble (hydrophilic) molecules
use channel proteins to pass phospholipid bilayer & enter epithelial cells (down
concentration gradient)
○ Active transport: for key nutrients, glucose, amino acids, & mineral ions → protein
pumps use ATP to move molecules against concentration gradient into epithelial
cells
○ Endocytosis (pinocytosis): antibodies from breast milk → plasma membrane folds
inward to form vesicles to absorb larger molecules w/o digesting them
● Stomach rumbling = stomach acid sloshing around - tends to happen when thinking of or
smelling food (stomach pre-anticipating food coming in so starts producing more
enzymes & stomach acid)
● Maltose created ? → maltose broken down into 2 glucose
● Bond b/n sugars: glycosidic
● Starch consists of amylose (by 1.4 bonds) & amylopectin (by 1.4 bonds & occasional by
1.6 bonds)
○ Amylase breaks 1.4 bonds in chains of 4 or more monomers producing maltose
○ Maltase digests maltose into glucose monomers
○ Dextrinase breaks 1.6 bonds that amylase cannot deal w/ forming glucose
monomers → breaks down straight into glucose, doesn’t become maltose first
● Human digestive enzymes
○ Amylases break down carbohydrates, e.g. mouth (breaks starch down into
maltose) - optimum pH: 7-7.8)
○ Proteases break down proteins, e.g. pepsin (stomach) & pancreatic enzymes -
optimum pH: 2
○ Lipases break down fats & lipids, e.g. pancreatic lipase - optimum pH: 7.2-7.5
○ Pancreatic juice containing enzymes is released into upper region of small
intestine (duodenum) via pancreatic duct
● Code transport: transporting 2 things simultaneously (symport & antiport)
○ Carries out active transport of glucose but not
primary active transport
○ Secondary/indirect active transport: required energy
derived from energy stored in the form of a
concentration gradient from a secondary solute (no
ATP)
○ Specific example*: glucose-sodium pump
■ sodium moves from small intestine across
membrane to cell (?) from

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Key terms

Digestion Breaking down of polymers

Alimentary canal Tube that carries food as it gets digested

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