Describe the digestion of rice: type, location(s), enzyme(s), and chemical breakdown

Question

This is for anatomy and phisiology

Answer 1

Hi Van! Digestion first starts with ingestion, placing food, or the rice in this case, into the mouth. The mouth starts the digestive process chemically and mechanically. The salivary glands produce an enzyme called salivary amylase. This breaks down starches, such as rice, into smaller molecules. The teeth mechanically tear and grind food through mastication, or chewing. This chewed food turns into a mass called a bolus, which is then ready to be swallowed. This passes into the esophagus. The esophagus by means of muscle contraction, peristalsis, sends the food down to the stomach.

Now that food is in the stomach, the gastric acid produced by the gastric glands chemically breaks down food, especially proteins. Mechanical digestion continues as the stomach churns the food, and eventually turns it into chyme. This is small enough to be passed onto the small intestine.

The small intestine is made of three sections, duodenum, jejunum and ileum. The duodenum further digests the food. It mechanically breaks it down by peristalsis. Enzymes from the pancreas are secreted, such as lipase for lipids, protease for proteins, and amylase for starches. Amylase breaks down starches like rice, into sugars to be metabolized by the body for energy.

The jejunum and ileum help to absorb nutrients. So all the nutrients that were simplified from the duodenum can now be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Now the leftover food in the form of liquid is passed on to the large intestine or the colon. This wastes from digestion is now formed into stool. The colon absorbs extra water before excreting stool, or fecal matter through the rectum.