Breaking down food
- Created by: Rachel
- Created on: 01-04-13 21:05
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- The digestive system breaks down large insolube food molecules into smaller, soluble molecules
- This chemical breakdown of food depends on digestive enzymes
- Different types of digestive enzyme break down the three main types of food molecules: carbohydrates, proteins and fats
Digesting carbohydrates
- Food like break and potatoes are full of carbohydrates (substances made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen)
- The simplest carbohydrates are called sugars and these can be built upinto more complex carbohydrates, such as starch
- Digestive enzymes that break down carbohydrates are known as carbohydrases
- Amylase is a carbohydrase that breaks starch down into sugars, which can then be absorbed by the small intestine or broken down into glucose by other carbohydrases
- An amylase is present in saliva
- Another amylase is made in the pancreas and released into the small intestine
Digesting proteins
- Proteases are enzymes that digest proteins, breaking them down into shorter…
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