Name: Kidney as the Body Filter
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 4 min 4 s
Description: The kidney is the waste manager of our body. Let us look inside the kidney and understand how this wondrous filtration system works. Watch the video now.

Question

How do carbohydrates, proteins and fats get digested in human beings?

Accepted Answer

The process of breaking down complex food substances into simpler food substances is called digestion.

Digestion of carbohydrates takes place in the following organs:
(i) Buccal cavity: The salivary amylase present in the saliva converts polysaccharide into disaccharide.

Starch and glycogen $\overset{A m y l a s e}{\to}$ Maltose + Isomaltose

(ii) Small intestine:

Pancreatic juice contains pancreatic amylase, which converts polysaccharide into disaccharide.

Starch and glycogen $\to_{A m y l a s e}^{P a n c r e a t i c}$ Maltose + Isomaltose

Intestinal juice hydrolyzes the disaccharides into monosaccharides by the following reactions:

Maltose $\overset{M a l t a s e}{\to}$ Glucose

Isomaltose $\overset{I s o m a l t a s e}{\to}$ Glucose

Sucrose $\overset{S u c r a s e}{\to}$ Glucose + Fructose

Lactose $\overset{L a c t a s e}{\to}$ Glucose + Galactose

Digestion of Proteins takes place in the following organs:
(i) Stomach: Inactive form of pepsin, also known as pepsinogen, is secreted by the stomach, which in the presence of HCl forms pepsin and digests protein into polypeptides.

Pepsinogen + HCl $\to$ Pepsin

Proteins $\overset{P e p \sin}{\to}$ Proteoses and peptones

(ii) Small intestine:
(a) Pancreatic juice secretes enzymes which help in breaking down the proteins into polypeptides. The enzymes and their reactions are as follows:

Trypsinogen $\overset{E n t e r o k i n a s e}{\to}$ Trypsin

Proteins $\overset{T r y p \sin}{\to}$ Peptides

Trypsin $\overset{C h y m o t r y p \sin o g e n}{\to}$ Chymotrypsin

Protein $\overset{C h y m o t r y p \sin}{\to}$ Peptides

Trypsin $\overset{P r o c a r b o x y p e p t i d a s e}{\to}$ Carboxypeptidase

Proteins $\overset{C a r b o x y p e p t i d a s e}{\to}$ Dipeptides + Amino acids

(b) Intestine juice contains enzymes which further breaks down the polypeptides into its monomer units.

Peptides $\overset{A m i n o p e p t i d a s e s}{\to}$ Dipeptides + Amino acids

Dipeptides $\overset{D i p e p t i d a s e s}{\to}$ Amino acids

Digestion of fats takes place in the following organs:
Small intestine: Bile juice secreted by the liver and the pancreatic juice secreted by the pancreas helps in the breakdown of fat.

Bile emulsifies fats into smaller droplets

Pancreatic juice and intestinal juice present in the small intestine has an enzyme whose reaction is as follows:

Triglyceride $\overset{L i p a s e}{\to}$ Fatty acid+ lipase

Fatty acid + Glycerol $\overset{L i p a s e}{\to}$ Monoglycerides + Diglycerides

How do carbohydrates, proteins and fats get digested in human beings?

Important Questions on Life Processes

Learn and Prepare for any exam you want !