DIGESTION
(and the absorption of biomolecules)
What is digestion?
• Define at your table-groups
What is digestion?
• Digestion is the breakdown of food into smaller
components, so that can be more easily absorbed and
assimilated by the body
…Essentially the processes organisms use
to obtain the essential biomolecules
from the food they eat
Where does digestion occur?
Where are the nutrients absorbed?
Biomolecule
Carbohydrate
Lipid
Protein
What it gets
broken down
into
Where and how
it gets broken
down
Where it gets
absorbed
Biomolecule
What it gets
broken down into
Where and how it
gets broken down
Where it gets
absorbed into the
bloodstream
Carbohydrate
Glucose
1.
Small intestine
2.
Lipid
Protein
Mouth and stomach:
enzymes in the saliva
and pancreatic juices
in the stomach break
it down into maltose.
Small intestine:
enzymes break
maltose into glucose
Biomolecule
What it gets
broken down into
Where and how it
gets broken down
Where it gets
absorbed into the
bloodstream
Carbohydrate
Glucose
1. Mouth and stomach:
enzymes in the
saliva and juices in
the stomach break it
down into maltase.
2. Small intestine:
enzymes break
maltase into glucose
Small intestine
Lipid
Fatty acids and
cholesterol
Stomach: stomach acid
“dissolves” large lipids
into water, so they can
be broken down by
enzymes in the
stomach.
Lymphatic Vessels
(located in stomach
and small intestine)
Protein
Amino acids
1. Stomach: enzymes
begin to break
proteins down
2. Small intestine:
pancreatic juices
and enzymes break
it down into amino
acids
Small intestine
Do we see a theme?
• Small intestine is where nutrients are absorbed into the
bloodstream!