1. Ingestion: The process of taking in food through the mouth.
2. Mastication: The mechanical breakdown of food into smaller pieces through chewing and grinding by the teeth.
3. Salivation: The secretion of saliva by salivary glands, which helps to moisten and bind food particles together.
4. Deglutition: The act of swallowing, wherein the tongue pushes the chewed food to the back of the mouth and down the esophagus.
5. Peristalsis: The rhythmic muscular contractions that propel food through the esophagus and into the stomach.
6. Gastric secretion: Gastric glands in the stomach release digestive enzymes, hydrochloric acid, and mucus to further break down food particles.
7. Mixing and churning: The muscles of the stomach wall contract and relax to mix the food with digestive juices and break it down into a semi-liquid mixture called chyme.
8. Small intestine absorption: Chyme passes into the small intestine, where nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream through the intestinal walls.
9. Pancreatic and liver secretion: The pancreas releases enzymes and the liver contributes bile to the small intestine to further break down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.
10. Further digestion and absorption: Enzymes in the small intestine continue to break down nutrients, and the inner walls of the small intestine absorb these nutrients into the bloodstream.
11. Large intestine absorption: Remaining water and electrolytes are absorbed from the undigested waste material, forming solid stools.
12. Elimination: The solid waste, or feces, is excreted through the rectum and anus during the process of defecation.
Place the steps for digestion in the correct order
1 answer