Humans take in food through the mouth, digest and utilise it. The unused part of the food is removed from the body.
The food inside our body passes through a continuous canal called alimentary canal or digestive tract. It starts from mouth and ends at anus of human beings.
The alimentary canal can be divided into various compartments
(i) The buccal cavity
(ii) Food pipe or oesophagus
(iii) Stomach
(iv) Small intestine
(v) Large intestine ending in the rectum
(vi) The anus
After the intake, the food gradually gets digested as it travels through these various compartments. There are various glands that are associated with the canal, e.g. salivary glands, liver and pancreas. These glands along with the inner wall of the stomach and small intestine secrete digestive juices. These juices convert complex substances of food into simpler substances.
The system that consists of digestive tract along with the associated glands is called digestive system. Now, we will learn what happens to the food in different parts of digestive tract.