DIGESTION IN HUMANS

We take in food through the mouth, digest and utlise it. The unused parts of the food are defecated. Have you ever wondered what happens to the food inside the body? The food passes through a continuous canal which begins at the buccal cavity and ends at the anus. The canal can be divided into various compartments: (i)The buccal cavity (2) Food pipe or Oesophagus (3) Stomach (4) Small Intestine, (5) Large Intestine ending the rectum and (6) The anus. 

It is not a very long path? These parts together form the alimentary canal (digestive tract). The food components gradually get digested as food travels through the various compartments. The inner walls of the stomach and the small intestine, and the various glands associated with the canal such as salivary glands, the liver and the pancreas secrete digestive juices. The digestive juices convert complex substances of food into simpler ones. The digestive tract and the associated glands together constitute the digestive system.