Name: Digestive System in Humans
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 9 min 13 s
Description: The human digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract plus the accessory organs. Digestion involves the absorption and assimilation of food.

Question

Define digestion. Describe the role of saliva, bile juice and pancreatic juice in digestion.

Accepted Answer

The break down of food into simpler and soluble molecules inside the body is called digestion. The process of digestion begins in the mouth and is completed in the digestive tract. Undigested material is egested through the anus.

Three pairs of salivary glands release saliva in the mouth. Saliva is a viscous, transparent liquid that contains mainly water, salts, and mucin. Saliva moistens the food and makes the chewed food slippery. It helps in swallowing the food easily. Saliva contains an enzyme called salivary amylase. It digests starch into maltose.

Bile juice is released from the liver and stored in the gall bladder. When food from the stomach enters the small intestine, bile is released in it which aids in the digestion of fat.

Pancreatic juice secrets from the pancreas and its enzymes complete the digestion of all the three components of food, i.e., carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

Define digestion. Describe the role of saliva, bile juice and pancreatic juice in digestion.

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