Science: Process of Digestion

Mouth Food starts its long journey at the mouth. The mouth is the first part of the digestive system. The food is broken up with the help from saliva. Saliva contains an enzyme that breaks up the starch from food into smaller molecules. An adult produces about a litre of saliva each day. Oesophagus The oesophagus is the organ where bits of food swallowed are pushed down. It connects the throat above with the stomach …

…digestion. This procedure takes about 5 hours. Large intestine Finally the nutrients are dissolved and absorbed by the intestine walls. The only food left here is undigested parts like fibres and older cells that have been shed from the mucosa and now become waste products. These materials are propelled into the large intestine, where they remain, usually for a day or two. It then becomes solid waste that is cleared from the body with bowel movement.