Chapter 26

Path of food
through the
animal body

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26.1 Food for Energy and Growth-1
The food animals eat provides both a
source of energy and essential molecules
that the animal body is not able to
manufacture for itself.
An optimal diet contains more carbohydrates
than fats and also a significant amount of
protein.

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Figure 26.1 The nutrition plate

MyPlate.
US Department of Agriculture
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26.1 Food for Energy and Growth-2
Carbohydrates are obtained primarily from
grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Carbohydrates contain about 4.1 calories per gram.

Dietary fats are found in oils, margarine, and

butter and are abundant in fried foods, meats,
and processed snack foods.
Fats contain 9.3 calories per gram.

Proteins can be obtained from many foods,

including dairy, poultry, meat, and grains.
Proteins have 4.1 calories per gram.

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26.1 Food for Energy and Growth-3
In wealthy countries, being significantly
overweight is common.
This is due to habitual overeating and high-fat
diets, in which fats constitute over 35% of the
total caloric intake.
The standard measure of appropriate body
weight is the body mass index (BMI),
estimated as your body weight in kg, divided
by your height in meters squared.

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 Figure 26.2 Are you overweight?
66% of American adults are overweight with a
BMI of 25 or more

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26.1 Food for Energy and Growth-4
Over the course of evolution, many animals
have lost their ability to manufacture certain
substances they need.
Many vertebrates are unable to manufacture
one or more of the 20 amino acids used to
make proteins.
Humans are unable to synthesize 8 amino acids,
which must be obtained from proteins in food.
These are called essential amino acids.

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26.1 Food for Energy and Growth-5
In addition to supplying energy, food must
also supply essential minerals.
Some minerals are required in very small
amounts and are called trace elements.

Essential organic substances that are

used in trace amounts are called
vitamins.

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26.2 Types of Digestive Systems-1
Heterotrophs are divided into three groups on
the basis of their food sources.
Herbivores eat plants exclusively.
Carnivores are meat eaters.
Omnivores eat both plants and animals.

Sponges digest their food intracellularly.

All other animals digest their food extracellularly,

within a digestive cavity.

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26.2 Types of Digestive Systems-2
A gastrovascular cavity is found in
cnidarians and flatworms.
This cavity has only a single opening that
serves as both a mouth and an anus.
There is no specialization within this type of
digestive system because every cell is
exposed to all stages of digestion.

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Figure 26.3 The gastrovascular cavity
of Hydra

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26.2 Types of Digestive Systems-3
A digestive tract with a separate mouth and anus
is called an alimentary canal.
This permits specialization and the transport of food is
one direction.
Physical forces, such as chewing and grinding, first
break the ingested food into smaller fragments.
Chemical digestion occurs primarily in the
intestine and involves hydrolysis reactions that
liberate food subunits.
Products of digestion are absorbed into the blood.
Any molecules in the food that are not absorbed by
the animal are excreted through the anus.
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Figure 26.4 One-way digestive tracts

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26.3 Vertebrate Digestive Systems-1
In humans and other vertebrates, the
digestive system consists of a
gastrointestinal tract and accessory
organs.
The tubular gastrointestinal tract has a
layered structure.
Mucosa: innermost layer comprised of epithelium
Submucosa: second layer comprised of connective
tissue
Muscularis: third layer of two layers of muscle
tissue
Serosa: outer layer comprised of connective tissue
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Figure 26.5 The human digestive
system

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Figure 26.6 The layers of the
gastrointestinal tract

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26.3 Vertebrate Digestive Systems-2
In general, carnivores have shorter
intestines for their size than herbivores.
Ruminants are herbivores that ingest a large
amount of plant cellulose, which resists
digestion.
Have long, convoluted intestines with chambers
where microorganisms can digest cellulose,
including the first chamber called the rumen
Some herbivores, including rabbits and
horses, digest cellulose with the aid of
bacteria in a pouch called the cecum.
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 26.4 The Mouth and Teeth-1
Different vertebrates have different
specializations of the digestive system that
reflect the way they live.
Many vertebrates have teeth, and chewing
(mastication) breaks up food into small
particles and mixes it with fluid secretions.
Birds, which lack teeth, break up their food in
the gizzard.

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 26.4 The Mouth and Teeth-2
Reptiles and fish have homodont dentition,
teeth that are all the same.

Most mammals have heterodont dentition,

teeth of different specialized types.
Incisors: chisel-shaped nipping teeth
Canines: sharp, pointed teeth for tearing
Premolars and molars: flat teeth for grinding

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 26.4 The Mouth and Teeth-3
The general pattern of heterodont dentition
is modified in different mammals
depending on their diet.
Carnivorous mammals: the canines are
prominent, and the premolars and molars are
more blade-like
Herbivorous mammals: the incisors are well
developed, the canines are often absent, and
the premolars and molars are large, flat teeth
with ridges

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Figure 26.8 Diagram of heterodont
dentition

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 26.4 The Mouth and Teeth-4
Humans are omnivores and human teeth
are specialized for eating both plant and
animal material.
Humans are carnivores in the front of the
mouth and herbivores in the back.
Children have only 20 teeth but these are lost
during childhood and replaced by 32 adult
teeth.
The tooth is a living organ.

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Figure 26.9 Human teeth

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 26.4 The Mouth and Teeth-5
Inside the mouth, the tongue mixes food
with a mucous solution called saliva.
Saliva moistens and lubricates food so that it
is easier to swallow.
Saliva also contains a hydrolytic enzyme
called salivary amylase.
This enzyme initiates the breakdown of starch into
the disaccharide maltose.

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 26.4 The Mouth and Teeth-6
When food is ready to be swallowed, a
sequence of events occur that causes
food to go into the esophagus.
Food is prevented from going into the
respiratory tract by the epiglottis.

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Figure 26.10 The human pharynx,
palate, and larynx

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26.5 The Esophagus and Stomach-1
The esophagus is a muscular tube that
connects the pharynx to the stomach.
The upper third is enveloped in skeletal
muscle for voluntary control of swallowing.
The lower two-thirds is surrounded by
involuntary smooth muscle.
Rhythmic waves of contractions, called
peristalsis, propel food towards the stomach.

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Figure 26.11
The esophagus
and peristalsis

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26.5 The Esophagus and Stomach-2

The movement of food from the esophagus into

the stomach is controlled by a ring of circular
smooth muscle, called a sphincter.
Contraction of the sphincter prevents food in the
stomach from moving back into the esophagus.
In humans, stomach contents can be brought back
out during vomiting.
The relaxing of the sphincter may lead to acid reflux,
which is when stomach acid moves into the
esophagus.
This produces a burning sensation known as
heartburn.
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26.5 The Esophagus and Stomach-3
The stomach is a saclike portion of the
digestive tract.
The stomach contains an extra layer of
smooth muscle for churning food.
Gastric juice is released by cells of the
gastric glands in the lining of the stomach.
Parietal cells secrete hydrochloric acid (HCl).
Chief cells secrete pepsinogen.
Pepsinogen requires a low pH to be activated
into pepsin, a protease that begins the
digestion of proteins.
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Figure 26.12 The stomach and
gastric glands

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26.5 The Esophagus and Stomach-4
Gastric juice has a pH of 2, much more
acidic than the 7.4 pH of blood.
The low pH helps to denature protein and
keep pepsin active.
Active pepsin hydrolyzes food proteins into
short chains of polypeptides that are not fully
digested until the mixture enters the small
intestine.
Chyme is the name for the mixture of partially
digested food and gastric juice.

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26.5 The Esophagus and Stomach-5
Overproduction of gastric acid can
occasionally eat a hole through the wall of
the stomach, called a gastric ulcer.
Normally the stomach epithelial cells are
protected by alkaline mucus.
Susceptibility to ulcers is increased by an
infection of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori.

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26.6 The Small and Large Intestines-1
The intestine is the primary digestive
organ of the body.
Only relatively small portions of chyme are
introduced into the small intestine at one time.
This allows time for acid to be neutralized and
enzymes to act.
In the small intestine, carbohydrates, protein,
and lipids are broken down and absorbed into
the bloodstream.

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26.6 The Small and Large Intestines-2

While some enzymes necessary for

digestion are secreted by the cells of the
intestinal wall, most are made in the
pancreas.
The pancreas is a large gland located near
the stomach.
The pancreas sends its secretions via a duct
that empties into the first part of the small
intestine, the duodenum.

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26.6 The Small and Large Intestines-3

Much of the food energy the vertebrate

body harvests is obtained from fats.
Fat digestion involves bile salts that are
secreted into the duodenum by the liver.
The bile salts act like detergents and make
drops of fat into microscopic droplets.
This process is known as emulsification.
This increases the surface area for the enzyme
lipase to work on in order to break down the fat.

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26.6 The Small and Large Intestines-4
After the duodenum, the small intestine consists
of
Jejunum where digestion continues
Ileum where water and digested products are
absorbed

The lining of the small intestine is folded into

ridges, which are covered with fine projections
called villi (singular, villus).
Each of the cells covering the villus is covered by a
field of microprojections called microvilli.

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Figure 26.13
The small
intestine

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Figure 26.14 Microvilli in the small
intestine

Science Photo Library/Getty Images RF

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26.6 The Small and Large Intestines-5

The large intestine is shorter but has a

wider diameter than the small intestine.
No digestion takes place here.
Only about 6% to 7% of fluid absorption
occurs here.
Some water, sodium, and vitamin K
The main function of the large intestine is to
compact and store undigested material as
feces.

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26.7 Accessory Digestive Organs-1
The pancreas secretes fluid through the
pancreatic duct into the duodenum.
The fluid contains a host of enzymes.
Trypsin and chymotrypsin digest proteins.
Pancreatic amylase digests polysaccharides.
Lipase digests fats.
The pancreas secretes bicarbonate, which
neutralizes the HCl from the stomach.

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26.7 Accessory Digestive Organs-2
In addition to being an exocrine gland, the
pancreas is also an endocrine gland.
It produces hormones in the Islets of
Langerhans.
The two most important pancreatic hormones are
insulin and glucagon.

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26.7 Accessory Digestive Organs-3
The liver is the largest internal organ of
the body.
The liver produces bile and stores it in the
gallbladder where it is concentrated.
Bile consists of bile pigments and bile salts.
Bile salts aid in fat digestion.
The arrival of fatty food in the duodenum
stimulates the gallbladder to contract, causing
bile to be released.

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 Figure 26.15 The pancreatic and
bile ducts empty into the duodenum

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26.7 Accessory Digestive Organs-4
Veins carry blood from the stomach and
intestine to the liver.

The liver processes substances from the

blood.
Alcohol and other drugs are taken into liver
cells and metabolized.
The liver also removes toxins, pesticides,
carcinogens and other poisons by converting
them into less toxic forms.
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Figure 26.16
The organs
of the
digestive
system and
their
functions

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