Ch.26 digestive system

Bile salts

Chemicals produced by the liver and stored by the gallbladder that emulsify fats so that they can be chemically digested by enzymes.

Peristalsis

Coordinated muscular contractions that force food down the digestive tract.

Lipase

A fat digesting enzyme active in the small intestine.

Pepsin

A protein digesting enzyme that is active in the stomach.

Pancreas

Am organ that helps digestion by producing enzymes such as lipase that act in the small intestine and by secreting a juice that neutralizes acidic chyme.

Stomach

An expandable muscular organ that stores, mechanically breaks down and digests proteins in food.

Liver

An organ that aids digestion by producing bile salts that emulsify fats.

Gallbladder

An organ that stores bile salts and releases them as needed into the small intestine.

Epithelial cells

Cells that line organs and body cavities in the digestive tract they sit in direct contact with food and it's breakdown products.

Villi

Fingerling projections of folds in the lining of the small intestine that are responsible for most nutrient and water absorption.

Salivary glands

Glands secrete enzymes, including salivary amylase, which digests carbohydrates into the mouth.

Stool

Solid waste material eliminated from the digestive tract.

Chyme

The acidic soup of partially digested food that leaves the stomach and enters the small intestine.

Ingestion

The act of taking food into the mouth.

Digestive tract

The central pathway of the digestive system, it is a long muscular tube that pushes food between the mouth and the anus.

Elimination

The explosion of undigested matter in the form of stool.

Colon

The first and longest portion of the large intestine, the colon plays an important role in water reabsorption.

Duodenum

The first portion of the small intestine, the duodenum receives chyme from the stomach and mixes it with digestive secretions from other organs.

Large intestine

The last organ of the digestive tract, in which remaining water is absorbed and solid stool is formed.

Digestion

The mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into subunits, enabling the absorption of nutrients.

Small intestine

The organ in which the bulk of chemical digestion and absorption of food occurs.

Digestive system

The organ system that breaks down food molecules into smaller subunits, absorbs nutrients, and eliminates waste. It is composed of the digestive track and a cess or organs.

Esophagus

The section of the digestive tract between the mouth and the stomach.

Absorption

The uptake of digested food molecules by the epithelial cells lining the small intestine.

Emulsify

To break up large fat globules onto smaller fat droplets that can be more efficiently chemically digested by enzymes.