Proteins are the only food substances that are affected by the gastric juice.

The gastric juice:

A colorless acidic liquid that contains:

1. Water: 90%

2. Hydrochloric acid: to create an acidic medium (PH 2.5 – 1.5) that stops the action of Ptyalin enzyme and kills the harmful bacteria that may enter with the food and activates the gastric enzyme Pepsinogen into active Pepsin.

3. Pepsin enzyme: which is secreted in an inactive form as Pepsinogen, that is activated by HCl acid into active Pepsin:

HCl acid

Pepsinogen Pepsin

(Inactive enzyme) (Active enzyme)

Digestion of Proteins:

Pepsin catalyzes the hydrolysis of proteins by breaking certain peptide linkages in the long chain of the protein to form smaller fragments called polypeptides:

Pepsin

Proteins + Water Polypeptides (peptones)

HCl

Chyme:

The muscular contractions of the stomach wall help in churning and mixing up the food with the gastric juice. The large capacity of the stomach helps to act as a reservoir to store food long enough to be digested. At the end of the gastric digestion, the food becomes a heavy semi-fluid with a consistency suitable for being discharged from the stomach into the small intestines by the relaxation of the pyloric sphincter.

Why does the gastric juice not affect the inner epithelial lining of the stomach?

The presence of copious mucus secretion protects the inner epithelial lining of the stomach against the effect of the digestive enzymes.

Pepsinogen which is inactive will be activated only when it is mixed with the acid in the cavity of the stomach away from its wall.

3. Intestinal digestion (Digestion inside the small intestine):

The small intestine has 8 meter long and about 3.5cm in diameter (at its beginning) and 1.25cm (at its end). Coils and loops of the small intestines are connected together by a membranous structure which is called the mesenteric membrane. The small intestine is differentiated into two parts: the duodenum and the ileum. Inside the small intestine, the following juices are secreted over food:

a. Bile:

Bile is secreted from the liver over food during its passage in the duodenum. Bile emulsifies fats (divides large masses of fats into fine fatty globules). This helps to facilitate and accelerate the enzymatic action on fats that are insoluble in water.

b. Pancreatic juice:

Pancreatic juice is secreted from the pancreas over food during its passage in the duodenum. Pancreatic juice contains the following components:

- Sodium Bicarbonate: That neutralizes HCl acid and renders the medium alkaline.

- Pancreatic amylase: Catalyzes the hydrolysis of starch and glycogen into a disaccharide called maltose.

- Trypsinogen enzyme: Is an inactive enzyme that is activated when it reaches the duodenum by the action of a co-enzyme called enterokinase (secreted from the lining of the small intestines) into active trypsin. Trypsin which has an effect of proteins, as it catalyzes the hydrolysis of proteins into polypeptides.

- Lipase: Catalyzes the hydrolysis of fats (which are in the form of fatty emulsion) into fatty acids and glycerol.

c. Intestinal juice:

Intestinal juice is secreted from certain cells in the lining of the small intestines. It contains a mixture of enzymes that completes the action of the previous enzymes:

- Peptidases: A group of enzymes. Each enzyme is able to hydrolysis a peptide linkage between certain amino acids in the polypeptide chains. This completes the digestion of various protein fragments to various amino acids.

- Enzymes that hydrolyze disaccharides to monosaccharide:

- Maltase: Hydrolyzes maltose sugar to two molecules of glucose.

- Sucrase (invertase): Hydrolyzes sucrose sugar (cane sugar) to glucose and

Fructose.

- Lactase: Hydrolyzes lactose sugar (milk sugar) to glucose and galactose.

- Enterokiase: Is not a digestive enzyme. It acts as a co-enzyme that activates trypsinogen enzyme into active trypsin.

Absorption of Food.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-28