Digestive enzymes are an integral part of the digestion system. Read on to find out more…

The digestive system is not only composed of the organs and glands in the digestive system but also owing to the various digestive enzymes secreted. Digestive enzymes are an integral part of the digestion process and help in breakdown of food particles and absorption of essential nutrient elements into the body.

Basics About Digestive Enzymes

First of all before we even start discussing the digestive enzymes, it is very important to know what enzymes are. So let’s start from the basic concepts. What are enzymes? Well, enzymes are basically proteins that have the ability to accelerate and control the rates of chemical reactions. Almost all the biological processes in a living cell require the presence of some type of enzymes. The type of enzyme catalyzing a reaction is very specific, hence in this case enzymes that exist as a part of the digestive system are called as digestive enzymes.

Benefits of Digestive Enzymes

All the digestive enzymes basically play a role in breakdown of food and absorption of the nutrients. The digestive enzymes can be classified according to their location in the digestive system. Here is a list of all the digestive enzymes and their benefits or their roles in the digestive system.

Digestive Enzymes of the Oral Cavity:

The salivary glands in the oral cavity secrete two important enzymes called ptyalin and lysozyme, however lysozyme is not a digestive enzyme. Ptyalin, which is a digestive enzyme, is a type of -amylase. This digestive enzyme helps to break down the starch into smaller segments of soluble sugars, which can then be utilized by the body.

Digestive Enzymes of the Stomach:

The digestive enzymes that are secreted in the stomach are generally referred to as ‘gastric enzymes’. There are four gastric enzymes, which include pepsin, gelatinase, gastric amylase and gastric lipase. Pepsin is a peptidase, which refers to larger group of enzymes acting on proteins and breaking them into peptide chains. Pepsin works on proteins, breaking down the protein molecules into peptides. Gelatinase enzyme, degardes type one and type four gelatins and type four and type five collagen. Gastric amylase is responsible for breakdown of starch. Gastriclipase, is a butter fat enzyme which specifically acts only on trybutyrin which is an ingredient of butter.

Digestive Enzymes of the Pancreas:

Pancreas is a gland organ that secretes many digestive enzymes and is a part of the digestive system of vertebrates. Pancreas secretes trypsin, chymotrypsin, steapsin, carboxypeptidase and pancreatic amylase. Trypsin and chymotrypsin are peptidases that help breakdown the peptides. Steapsin is a digestive enzyme that breaks the triglycerides into fatty acids and glycerol. Carboxypeptidase, is a protease that helps to break the peptide fragments into amino acids. Pancreatic amylase degrades several carbohydrates; In addition to this the pancreas secretes several elastases and nucleases that act on protein elastin and nucleic acids respectively.

Digestive Enzymes of the Small Intestine:

The small intestine secretes several peptidases. The jejunum and the ileum of the small intestine secret a mixture of several enzymes which is called succus entewricus. The enzymes included are sucrase, which splits the sucrose into glucose and fructose, maltase that splits maltose into glucose. Iso-maltase breaks down maltose an iso-maltose. Lactase is responsible for splitting lactose into glucose and galactose whereas intestinal lipase helps to break down the fatty acids.

By Uttara Manohar
Published: 3/21/2008

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How digestion starts and ends in the digestive system? A description of the components that make up the phases of digestion.

Knowing how the digestive system functions helps to understand the different phases of processing and delivering nutrients to different parts of the body.

The Digestive System

By definition, digestion is the process of breaking down what we eat into components that can be absorbed by our bodies. These components are easily assimilated into the blood stream and distributed to different areas in the body.

Phases of Digestion

1. Cephalic Phase: Preparation for digestion begins with the cephalic phase. Saliva is produced in our mouth while digestive enzymes are produced in the stomach and small intestines. Saliva softens the food we eat to make it easier for the stomach to break it down easily.
2. Mechanical Digestion: This phase of digestion physically breaks down the food into smaller pieces. Mechanical digestion is basically chewing the food.
3. Chemical Digestion: Chemical digestion also begins with the mouth, but differs in process with its mechanical counterpart. This process starts with the saliva softening the food we eat then passing it through the esophagus to the stomach. Here, digestive enzymes break it down into smaller components for easy absorption and assimilation into the blood stream
4. Absorption Phase: This phase defines the movement and distribution of nutrients from the stomach (digestive system) to the lymphatic and circulatory capillaries.
5. Egestion Phase: This phase defines the removal of undigested material from the stomach through the small intestines, large intestines, and out through the anus — or simply termed as defecation.

Digestive disorders might occur at almost any phase in this process.

Parts of the Digestive System

Now that we have a thorough understanding of how digestion starts and ends in the digestive system, the next thing is the digestive system itself. This includes basic components that make up the phases of digestion. These are:

1. Oral Cavity: The oral cavity is where food is chewed, breaking it down into smaller components for easy digestion in the stomach. The oral cavity is in charge of mechanical digestion and begins the chemical digestion before passing it on to other parts of the digestive system. Saliva is produced through the tongue and mixed with the food. This softens it for chewing, easy swallowing and digestion in the stomach.
2. Esophagus: This part of the digestive system is composed of smooth muscles that serve as a pathway for the processed food from the mouth to the stomach.
3. Stomach: The stomach acts like an elastic bag that holds the initially digested food and finishes the digestive process. Digestive enzymes and gastric juices flow into the stomach aiding in digestion. The acid is not used as a means of breaking down food, it aids digestive enzymes in breaking down food components into a form that can easily be absorbed by the body.
4. Small Intestine: This is where most of the digestion and absorption of nutrients occurs. Other liquids mix with the food in order to proceed with the rest of the digestive process. These liquids are bile, which is from the gall bladder and helps break down fatty components to be absorbed into the body, pancreatic Juice, which is produced by the pancreas that also breaks down digested components, and intestinal enzymes, such as maltase, sucrose, and lactase to process sugar.
5. Large Intestines: The large intestines absorb excess liquid from digested components and stores feces before it is egested from the body through the anus (defecation). Waste products, fiber, and other materials that cannot be digested by the system are stored in this section as concentrated feces.

By Quinto Romero
Published: 11/19/2008

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