Question

1. What is chemical digestion? Name the 3 regions where chemical digestion occurs.
2. Which components of the gastric juice aid the digestion of proteins?
3. Why does the small intestine have villi and microvilli?

Please type the answers

Answer 1

1. Chemical digestion is the type of digestion, where food is broken down usking enzymes (chemicals) into its mallets part which can be absorbed and can be utilised directly by the cells.

The areas in GI tract where chemical digestion occurs are - oral cavity (presence of salivary amylase), stomach (presence of HCL and pepsinogen), small intestine (presence of bile, pancreatic juice, intestinal juice).

2. The HCL present in gastric juice makes the pH of the food acidic which helps in activation of the pepsinogen into pepsin and causes digestion of proteins present in food.

3. The purpose of villi and microvilli is to increase the surface area in the small intestine so that the food can be mixed properly with the intestinal and pancreatic juice and can be digested and it can also be abso4=bred from the large surface provided by the villi and microvilli. Present of lacteals in the microvilli helps in absorption of the digested food into the blood stream.