Digestive system

Digestion is the process of breaking down food that is ingested into products that are usable by the body. The digestive system is made up of the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestines and the pancreas. the process of digestion involves many different enzymes. There are three main types of digestive enzymes, amylases that break down starch and larger sugars into the more simple sugars such as glucose, proteases and peptidases that break down proteins and larger peptides into smaller peptides and amino acids, and also lipases that break down fats into fatty acids and glycerol. These enzymes are secreted at various places throughout the body including the salivary glands, gastric pits of the stomach, the small intestine and the pancreas. Digestion begins in the mouth where the break down of starch is catalysed by salivary amylase before the bolus moves into the stomach and is digested by the enzymes, primarily protein digesting enzymes, the acid and the mechanical action of the stomach. The bolus then moves into the small intestine where the greatest amount of digestion takes place, this is the primary site of lipid digestion. In the large intestine, digestion is all but finished and all that remains is to remove the remaining water. The now digested food is excreted from the body .