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• Ingestion

  Process of taking in food through the mouth
• Digestion


  Process of the physical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller particles
• Absorption


  Process of uptaking the nutrients from the digested food
• Assimilation


  Process of distributing the nutrients from the digested food going to the cells
• Elimination


  Process of removing waste material in the body (feces)
• Parts of the Digestive System


  • Mouth
  • Salivary glands
  • Pharynx
  • Esophagus
  • Stomach
  • Small intestine
  • Large intestine
  • Rectum
  • Anus
  • Liver
  • Gallbladder
  • Pancreas
• Mouth


  • Opening where food enters, composed of teeth, tongue, and salivary glands that help in tearing, grinding, and chewing food
• Salivary glands


  • Produce saliva, mucus, and salivary amylase that moisten and soften food, and break down carbohydrates
  • 3 kinds: parotid, sublingual, submaxillary
• Pharynx


  • Also known as throat, serves as passageway of food (bolus) from mouth to esophagus
• Esophagus


  • Muscular tube that connects pharynx to stomach, food is pushed by peristalsis
• Stomach


  • Muscular organ that produces digestive enzymes like pepsin to break down food (now called chyme)
• Small intestine


  • Highly coiled organ that absorbs nutrients, divided into duodenum, jejunum, and ileum
• Large intestine


  • Also called colon, serves as passageway of undigested food (feces), absorbs water
• Rectum


  • Connects large intestine and anus, receives feces
• Anus


  • Opening at end of digestive tract that removes feces
• Liver


  • Brownish organ that produces bile to break down fats
• Gallbladder


  • Greenish organ that stores and transports bile to small intestine
• Pancreas


  • Produces pancreatic enzymes that break down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, also secretes insulin and glucagon
• Ingestion


  Food enters mouth
• Mechanical digestion


  Food is physically broken into smaller pieces in mouth
• Bolus formation


  Food is mixed with saliva in mouth
• Peristalsis


  Muscular contractions that push bolus from esophagus to stomach
• Chemical digestion


  Action of enzymes in stomach to break down food (now called chyme)
• Absorption


  Nutrients from digested food are absorbed in small intestine
• Assimilation


  Absorbed nutrients are distributed to cells by blood
• Elimination


  Undigested food is removed from body as feces