Understanding the Upper Digestive Tract: Mouth to Stomach - AP Biology

The gallbladder is found underneath the liver. The gallbladder is the storage place of bile, which helps to emulsify fats. Bile is necessary for the digestive system to break down fat. Removal of the gallbladder can result in fat malabsorption, which can present as loose stool.

The esophagus is responsible for transporting food from the mouth to the stomach via peristalsis, which consists of smooth muscle contractions, but does not help digest the food content in the process. The mouth, stomach, and small intestine, however, all help in the process of food digestion. The mouth introduces enzymes in the saliva, the stomach introduces pepsin, and the small intestine introduces a number of other enzymes for digestion of macromolecules.

Cholecystokinin (CCK) is a hormone released by the duodenum to signal and stimulate accessory organs for digestive enzymes. Salivary amylase digests starch in the mouth, while pepsin is used to digest proteins in the stomach.

Methane is produced in the cecum as a result of blind outpocketing, during which E. coli organisms release the gas as a biproduct of digestion. Detoxing chemicals from the blood, forming urea, and producing bile are just three of the functions of the liver.

Food travels in this order through the digestive tract: mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, anus.

The larynx is commonly confused with the pharynx due to their similar names, but it is actually involved in speaking or making sounds. The pharynx splits into the trachea and esophagus. Food and liquids travel down the esophagus, while air travels down the trachea; the larynx is located at the top of the trachea.

After entering the mouth, food is transferred to the pharynx before entering the esophagus. The pharynx is located immediately above the epiglottis, meaning that both food and air can enter the pharynx. The epiglottis covers the trachea to prevent food from entering, and forces food to travel down the esophagus instead. After food travels through the esophagus it enters the stomach. The pyloric sphincter then separates the stomach from the small intestine.

The epiglottis is a structure that folds forward to cover the trachea when swallowing. It helps to direct food to the esophagus instead of the trachea, preventing liquids and solids from entering the lungs.

Chyme is formed during the initial breakdown of food. Food is turned into chyme in the stomach due to the combination of smooth muscle contractions and the chemical action of hydrochloric acid. These processes serve to digest the food both mechanically and chemically.

The liver produces bile, which is then stored in the gall bladder. It also stores vitamins and iron, and produces glycogen. The liver is also responsible for detoxification of several metabolites, but it does not produce insulin. Insulin secreted by the pancreas. Other functions of the liver include: synthesis of blood proteins, breakdown of lipids, recycling red blood cells, and glycogen breakdown.

The contraction and relaxation of a layer of smooth muscle at the junction of the esophagus (-esophageal) and the stomach (gastro-) allows for the bolus to pass into the stomach upon relaxation, and by contraction keeps the bolus, acid, and other stomach contents from regurgitating into the esophagus from the stomach. This sphincter is under vagus nerve control, thus, the parasympathetic nervous system.

The correct order that the food will pass as is first the duodenum, then the jejunum and finally the ileum. These are all sections or portions of the small intestine, the organ responsible for the vast majority of absorption of nutrients from food before it is passed on to the large intestine, where water, vitamins, minerals, and any other remaining nutrients are absorbed into the body.

In the stomach, both hydrochloric acid and pepsinogen are secreted by gastric pits. Parietal cells in these pits secrete hydrochloric acid while chief cells in these pits secrete pepsinogen. Note that pepsinogen is inactive, and gets activated into pepsin via hydrochloric acid.

The esophagus is responsible for transporting food from the mouth to the stomach via peristalsis, which consists of smooth muscle contractions, but does not help digest the food content in the process. The mouth, stomach, and small intestine, however, all help in the process of food digestion. The mouth introduces enzymes in the saliva, the stomach introduces pepsin, and the small intestine introduces a number of other enzymes for digestion of macromolecules.

Cholecystokinin (CCK) is a hormone released by the duodenum to signal and stimulate accessory organs for digestive enzymes. Salivary amylase digests starch in the mouth, while pepsin is used to digest proteins in the stomach.

Methane is produced in the cecum as a result of blind outpocketing, during which E. coli organisms release the gas as a biproduct of digestion. Detoxing chemicals from the blood, forming urea, and producing bile are just three of the functions of the liver.

Food travels in this order through the digestive tract: mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, anus.

The larynx is commonly confused with the pharynx due to their similar names, but it is actually involved in speaking or making sounds. The pharynx splits into the trachea and esophagus. Food and liquids travel down the esophagus, while air travels down the trachea; the larynx is located at the top of the trachea.

After entering the mouth, food is transferred to the pharynx before entering the esophagus. The pharynx is located immediately above the epiglottis, meaning that both food and air can enter the pharynx. The epiglottis covers the trachea to prevent food from entering, and forces food to travel down the esophagus instead. After food travels through the esophagus it enters the stomach. The pyloric sphincter then separates the stomach from the small intestine.

The epiglottis is a structure that folds forward to cover the trachea when swallowing. It helps to direct food to the esophagus instead of the trachea, preventing liquids and solids from entering the lungs.

Chyme is formed during the initial breakdown of food. Food is turned into chyme in the stomach due to the combination of smooth muscle contractions and the chemical action of hydrochloric acid. These processes serve to digest the food both mechanically and chemically.