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Digestion, enzymes and practicals overview

Organisation • Animal tissues, organs and systems

Key concepts

What you'll likely be quizzed about

  • The digestive system consists of organs that produce secretions, move food, and absorb nutrients.
  • Food travels from the mouth to the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and finally the anus.
  • Associated organs, including the pancreas, liver, gall bladder, and salivary glands, secrete enzymes or bile without being part of the food pathway.
  • Villi that line the small intestine provide a large surface area and rich blood capillaries to absorb soluble products of digestion.

Flashcards

Test your knowledge with interactive flashcards

State two functions of bile.

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Bile emulsifies fats to increase surface area for lipase and neutralizes acidic food entering the small intestine.

Key notes

Important points to keep in mind

Digestive organs work together; associated organs (liver, pancreas, gall bladder) secrete into the small intestine but food does not pass through them.

Amylase breaks starch to sugars; proteases break proteins to amino acids; lipases break lipids to glycerol and fatty acids.

Bile is an emulsifier, increasing fat surface area for lipase and neutralizing stomach acid for intestinal enzymes.

Enzymes are proteins with a specific active site; the lock-and-key model explains substrate specificity.

Enzyme activity depends on temperature and pH; record means, plot graphs, and identify anomalies for practicals.

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