What is the Alimentary canal?
The long passage that starts from the Mouth and ends at Anus is known as the alimentary canal or Gastrointestinal Tract. This long pipe has modified structures depending upon the needs of the body.
What are Different parts of the alimentary canal?
Different parts of the alimentary canal are the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and anus.
● Mouth
- It is the part where the digestion
- The chewing of the food by teeth breaks the food down into tiny
- Saliva produced by Salivary Glands helps in the breakdown of Starch.
- It also makes the food easier to swallow by forming a Bolus. A bolus is a ball-like structure made up of food and
● Oesophagus
- It connects the mouth to the
- No digestion takes place in this
- The Bolus is propelled down by the movements in the
● Stomach
- The breakdown of protein takes place in the stomach with the help of digestive juices.
- It stores food for
- The bolus is converted to Chyme in the
● Small Intestine
- The breakdown of fats, proteins, and starch takes place in the small intestine with the help of digestive
- Absorption of the nutrients takes place in the small
● Large intestine
- Absorption of water takes place in the large intestine also known as Colon.
● Rectum
- The rectum holds on to the undigested
● Anus
- The undigested food is expelled or excreted from the anus. This process is called
Excretion.
Parts of the alimentary canal