Digestive System Vocab

Front 1

Refers to pancreas, liver, and gall bladder. They play a role in the digestive process but are not physically part of it.

Back 1

Accessory Organs

Front 2

A chemical that speeds up a chemical reaction but it is not used up in the reaction.

Back 2

Catalyst

Front 3

A chemical reaction where water molecules are added and cleave a macromolecule into subunits.

Back 3

Hydrolysis

Front 4

Thick liquid formed by mixing food with gastric juice in the stomach.

Back 4

Chyme

Front 5

A long tube that extends from the mouth to the anus/ the track that food is broken down.

Back 5

Digestive Tract

Front 6

Smooth, lump-like mass of food rolled by the tongue to aid swallowing. (Mush in mouth after chewing food.)

Back 6

Bolus

Front 7

A large, complex assembly of organic molecules. They are Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins,

Back 7

Macromolecule

Front 8

organ found in the abdomen that performs hundreds of functions as an accessory organ of the

Back 8

Liver

Front 9

Sugar that can be used to hydrolysize into two monosaccharide subunits.

Back 9

Disaccharide

Front 10

A simple sugar that cannot be hydrolyzed into simpler sugars.

Back 10

Monosaccharide

Front 11

When a molecule of water is removed.

Back 11

Dehydration Synthesis

Front 12

Organ that stores bile produced by the liver.

Back 12

Gall Bladder

Front 13

The tendency of the body to maintain a relatively constant internal environment.

Back 13

Homeostasis

Front 14

The amount of a nutrient that a person absorbs from a source, not the total amount actually in the source.

Back 14

Bioavailability

Front 15

A small gland in the abdomen that secrets digestive enzymes into the small intestine, as well as bicarbonate to neutralize hydrochloric acid from the stomach; also secretes the hormone insulin.

Back 15

Pancreas

Front 16

A molecule that attaches to an enzyme and reduces its ability to bind substrate.

Back 16

Inhibitor

Front 17

Wave-like series of muscular contractions and relaxations of the circular and longitudinal muscles that surround the various parts of the digestive tract.

Back 17

Peristalsis

Front 18

A complex carbohydrate consisting of many simple sugars linked together.

Back 18

Polysaccharide

Front 19

High-energy organic molecule composed of one glycerol molecule and three fatty acid

Back 19

Triglyceride

Front 20

Finger like projection along the ridges of the small intestine.

Back 20

Villus (Villi)

Front 21

Refers to the any of the nine of twenty amino acids that must come from the diet because the human body cannot synthesize them.

Back 21

Essential Amino Acid

Front 22

Macromolecule formed from a long chain of nucleotide subunits, each consisting of five-carbon simple sugar, a nitrogen-containing base, and a phosphate group.

Back 22

Nucleic Acid

Front 23

Organic macromolecule assembled from subunits of amino acids.

Back 23

Protein

Front 24

A process by which some physical digestion occurs in the small intestine.

Back 24

Segmentation

Front 25

The first 25 cm of the small intestine; important site of chemical digestion of chyme from the stomach.

Back 25

Duodenum

Front 26

Microscopic projection found along exposed cell surfaces that greatly increases the surface area of the cell.

Back 26

Microvillus

Front 27

Enzymes that hydrolyses the bonds between nucleotides in nucleic acids.

Back 27

Nucleases

Front 28

One of the three enzymes secreted into the bloodstream by the duodenum. Causes inhibition of stomach movement and secretions, and enabling fatty meals to remain in the stomach longer than non-fatty meals.

Back 28

Secretin/CCK/GIP

Front 29

enzyme in saliva that breaks down starch into simpler sugars

Back 29

Salivary Amylase

Front 30

enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of carbohydrates

Back 30

Carbohydrase

Front 31

a muscular ring between the esophagus and the stomach that controls the movement of food

Back 31

Sphincter

Front 32

stomach hormone that stimulates the secretion of hydrochloric acid and the inactive precursor

Back 32

Gastrin

Front 33

enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of triglycerides into glycerol and fatty acids

Back 33

Lipase

Front 34

protein molecule that acts as a catalyst to increase the rate of a reaction

Back 34

Enzyme

Front 35

protein-digesting enzyme secreted in the stomach; remains inactive until hydrochloric acid is present

Back 35

Pepsin

Front 36

enzyme that hydrolyzes the peptide bonds that link amino acids in proteins and peptides

Back 36

Peptidases

Front 37

substance upon which an enzyme acts

Back 37

Substrate

Front 38

bond between the amino group of one amino acid and the carboxyl group of another in a protein

Back 38

Peptide Bond

Front 39

muscular ring that acts as a valve between the stomach and the first part of the small intestine (duodenum), controlling the passage of food out of the stomach

Back 39

Pyloric Sphincter

Front 40

length of the digestive tract comprised of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum; main

Back 40

Small Intestine

Front 41

portion of the digestive system comprised of the caecum, colon, rectum, and anal canal; main function is to concentrate and eliminate waste materials

Back 41

Large Intestine