The layer of muscles in the wall of the small intestine causes peristaltic movements, which moves the chyme forward and ensures that it becomes thoroughly mixed with digestive juices
Glands in the duodenal wall (crypts of Lieberkuhn and Brunner glands) secrete digestive juices (intestinal juice) which play a role in digestion
The small intestine has millions of villi to increase the surface area for the absorption of digested nutrients
