CLASS X

BIOLOGY
CHAPTER 6: LIFE PROCESSES (NUTRITION)

Life Process
• Maintenance of living organism is essential even if they are moving, resting or even sleeping.
• The processes which together perform the function of maintenance of ‘life’ are called life processes.
• Nutrition, respiration, circulation, excretion are examples of essential life processes.
• In unicellular organisms, all these processes are carried out by that single cell.
• In multicellular organisms, well-developed systems are present to carry out the processes.

➢ Nutrition
The process by which an organism takes food and utilizes it, is called nutrition.
Need for Nutrition: Organisms need energy to perform various activities. Energy is supplied by the
nutrients.
Organisms need various raw materials for growth and repair. These raw materials are provided by nutrients.
Nutrients: Materials which provide nutrition to organisms are called nutrients. Carbohydrates, proteins and
fats are the main nutrients and are called macronutrients. Minerals and vitamins are required in small
amounts and hence are called micronutrients.
Modes of Nutrition
1. Autotrophic Nutrition.
2. Heterotrophic Nutrition.

Autotrophic Nutrition
• The mode of nutrition in which an organism prepares its own food is called autotrophic nutrition.
• E.g., Green plants and blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria).
• The organisms which carry out autotrophic nutrition are called autotrophs (green plants).

Nutrition in Plants
Photosynthesis:
• The process by which green plants intake CO2 and H2O and convert them into carbohydrates (food), Water
and Oxygen in the presence of Sunlight and Chlorophyll is called photosynthesis.
• Green leaves are the main sites of photosynthesis.
• They contain chloroplast which are the chlorophyll (green pigment) containing plastids.
• The whole process of photosynthesis can be shown by the following equation:

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 Requirements for Photosynthesis:

Substrate Source Use

CO2 From atmosphere through stomata Source of carbon for all organic compounds

H2 O From soil through Xylem vessels Reduces CO2 and keeps stomata open

Sunlight From sun Source of energy

Chlorophyll Produced by plants Main pigment that traps sunlight and is the
photosynthetic reaction centre

• The major raw materials required for photosynthesis are CO2 and H2O.
• If any of the required material is missing, photosynthesis will not occur.

Main Events of Photosynthesis:

i. Absorption of light energy by chlorophyll.
ii. Conversion of light energy into chemical energy + splitting (breaking) of water into hydrogen and oxygen.
iii. Reduction of CO2 to carbohydrates.

• Sunlight activates chlorophyll, which leads to splitting of water molecule.

• The hydrogen, released by the splitting of a water molecule is utilized for the reduction of carbon dioxide to
produce carbohydrates.
• Oxygen is the by-product of photosynthesis which comes from water.
• Carbohydrate is converted into starch and is stored in leaves and other storage parts.

Stomata: These are tiny pores present in the epidermis of leaf or stem through which gaseous exchange and
transpiration occur.

Functions of stomata
• Exchange of gases, O2 and CO2.
• Loses a large amount of water (water vapor) during transpiration.

Opening and closing of stomatal pores:

• The opening and closing of stomatal pores are controlled by the turgidity of guard cells.
• When guard cells uptake water from surrounding cells with the help of osmosis, they swell to become a
turgid body, which opens the pore in between (Stomatal Opening).
• While, when water is released, they become flaccid, shrinking to close the pores (Stomatal Closing).

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 Heterotrophic Nutrition
• The mode of nutrition in which an organism takes food from another organism is called heterotrophic
nutrition.
• Heterotrophic nutrition can be further divided into three types, viz. saprophytic nutrition, holozoic nutrition,
and parasitic.

1. Saprophytic Nutrition:
• The organisms which feed on dead and decaying plant and animal material are called Saprophytes.
• This phenomenon of nutrition is referred to as the Saprophytic mode of nutrition.
• In saprophytic nutrition, the organism secretes the digestive juices on the food outside its body.
• The food which is the organic material is broken down into simpler inorganic material which is then taken in
by the organism.
• Digestion occurs outside the body of the organism.
• All the decomposers follow saprophytic nutrition.
• E.g., Bacteria (not all), Fungi, Houseflies, etc.

2. Parasitic Nutrition:
• The organism which lives inside or outside the body of another organism (host) and derives nutrition from it
are called parasites.
• This type of mode of nutrition is called parasitic nutrition.
• No digestion occurs. The parasite obtains digested food from the host organism.
• E.g., Cuscuta (Amarbel), tick, lice, etc.

3. Holozoic Nutrition:
• In holozoic nutrition, digestion occurs inside the body of the organism.
• Most of the animals follow this mode of nutrition.

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 Steps of Holozoic Nutrition:
• Ingestion: The process of taking in the food.
• Digestion: The process of breaking complex food substances into simple molecules is called digestion.
• Absorption: The process of absorption of digested food i.e. simple molecules.
• Assimilation: The process of utilization of digested food, for energy, growth and repair.
• Egestion: The process of removing undigested food from the body.

Enzymes
• Enzymes are a group of catalysts functioning in biological system therefore called ‘biocatalysts’.
• They are usually proteinaceous substances produced by a living cell.
• They conduct biochemical reactions without themselves being used in the process.
• They are substrate specific.
• They function only at particular pH and temperature.

Nutrition in Amoeba
• Amoeba is a unicellular animal which follows the holozoic mode of nutrition.
• The cell membrane of amoeba produces finger like projections which are called pseudopodia (pseudo means
false and podia means foot).
• Ingestion - Amoeba surrounds the food particle with pseudopodia and makes a food vacuole (endocytosis).
• The food vacuole contains food particles, enzymes and water.
• Digestion - Digestive enzymes digest the food particle inside the food vacuole.
• Absorption - Digested food is absorbed from the food vacuole into the cytoplasm.
• Assimilation – The nutrients from the digested food are stored for utilization.
• Egestion - the food vacuole moves near the cell membrane and undigested food is expelled out.

Digestion in Amoeba

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 Nutrition in Paramecium
• Paramecium also exhibits holozoic nutrition.
• Paramecium is also a tiny unicellular animal which lives in water.
• The Paramecium has thin, hair-like cilia all over its body.
• Paramecium uses its cilia to sweep the food particles from water and put them into its mouth.
• The cilia move back and forth rapidly in water.
• When the cilia present around the mouth region of Paramecium move back and forth, they sweep the food
particles present in water into the mouth of Paramecium (Ingestion).
• A food vacuole is created enclosing the food where Digestion takes place.
• Food vacuole moves through the cytoplasm and digested food is absorbed (Absorption).
• The absorbed food is stored (Assimilation).
• Undigested food is given out to a tiny pore (Egestion).

Nutrition in Human Beings

• Human beings are complex animals, which have a complex digestive system.
• The human digestive system is composed of an alimentary canal and some accessory glands.
• The alimentary canal is divided into several parts, like oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine,
rectum, and anus.
• Salivary gland, liver and pancreas are the accessory glands which lie outside the alimentary canal.

Digestive Tract
• The alimentary canal in humans is approximately 30 feet (9m) long.
• It starts with the mouth and ends in the anus.
• Between these two openings, the alimentary canal is a tube of varying diameter.
• Oesophagus, stomach, small intestine (divided into three regions as duodenum, jejunum and ileum) and
large intestine (having two regions as colon and rectum) are the parts of the alimentary canal.
• Salivary glands, pancreas, and liver act as major digestive glands.
• Glands present in the wall of the stomach and small intestine also contribute towards digestion of food.

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 Human Digestive System

❖ Mouth or Buccal Cavity:

• The mouth has teeth and tongue.
• The tongue helps in turning over the food so that saliva can be properly mixed in it.
• Teeth help in breaking down the food into smaller particles called mastication of food so that, swallowing of
food becomes easier.
• Salivary glands are also present in the mouth and secrete saliva.
• In humans, three major pairs of salivary glands are present, parotid, submandibular and sublingual.
• In healthy individuals between 0.5 to 1.5 liters of saliva is produced per day.
• The pH of saliva ranges from 6.2 – 7.6

Location of the salivary glands

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 Functions of Saliva
• It lubricates and protects the soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity.
• It also gives protection from dental caries.
• It prevents microbial growth in the oral cavity.
• It contains the enzyme Salivary amylase (ptyalin) that converts starch into maltose and dextrin. Hence
saliva allows digestion to occur before the food reaches the stomach.
• Saliva acts as a solvent in which solid particles can dissolve in and enter the taste buds located on the
tongue.

❖ Oesophagus or Food Pipe

• Tube like organ that helps in taking food from mouth to stomach by Peristaltic movement.
• It does not secrete any enzymes hence no digestion occurs here.
• Peristaltic movement is the rhythmic contraction of the smooth muscles of the lining of the alimentary
canal to push the food forward.

❖ Stomach
• The oesophagus opens into the stomach and the opening is regulated by circular muscles called Sphincters.
• Stomach is a J shaped bag-like organ.
• It has highly muscular walls which help in churning the food.
• Food is stored in the stomach for about 3-7 hours.
• The walls of the stomach secrete Hydrochloric acid, Mucous and Pepsin.

• Role of Hydrochloric acid

➢ Converts inactive pepsinogen into active pepsin.
➢ Provides acidic medium for enzyme pepsin to perform protein digestion. pH is usually between 1.5 to
3.5
➢ Kills bacteria entered through food and prevents infection.

• Role of the enzyme pepsin

➢ It breaks down the large polypeptides into smaller peptide.

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 Note : Breakdown of proteins
(Proteins Peptides Peptones Amino acids )

• Role of mucous
➢ Saves the inner lining of the stomach from getting damaged from HCl.

• A thick layer of mucus secreted by the mucous glands of the stomach prevent itself from the action of the
gastric acid.
• Excess acid damages mucous layer and causes gastric and duodenal ulcers.
• When excess HCl is produced it causes burning sensation in the stomach or oesophagus called acidity.
• To reduce the effects of acidity antacids are used which are mild base. E.g., milk of magnesia

❖ Liver
• Liver is the largest organ in the human body.
• The liver produces Bile, which gets stored in the gall bladder.
• From the gall bladder, bile is released into the duodenum of the small intestine as and when required.
• Bile is a greenish yellow liquid which is secreted from the liver and concentrated in the gallbladder.

Functions of bile:
• Breaks down fat into smaller globules called emulsification of fats.
• Bile juice also contains bile salts. These bile salts help in the breakdown of fats into fatty acids so that it
becomes easier for the body to digest and absorb fats.
• The liver acts as a detoxifying agent. It flushes the drugs into the bile from where these drugs are excreted
out from the body.
• The excess calcium in the body is also dissolved in the bile and excreted out.
• Excess cholesterol in the body is excreted through bile.
• Fat digestion is prevented in the absence of bile. Therefore, the presence of bile is a prerequisite for fat
digestion.

❖ Pancreas
• The pancreas is a long, flat gland present behind the stomach in humans.
• It is one of the major digestive glands and is of mixed nature, i.e. endocrine (secrete hormones) as well as
exocrine (secrete enzymes).
• As an exocrine gland, it secretes pancreatic juice, which is a mixture of many digestive enzymes.

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• The digestive enzymes secreted by the pancreas include :
➢ Trypsin and Proteases which digest proteins into peptones.
➢ Amylase, which digests the starch content of the food.
➢ Pancreatic lipases are the pancreatic enzymes that help in the digestion of fats.

Locations of Liver, Gall bladder, Pancreas and Duodenum

❖ Small Intestine
• The small intestine is the longest part of the alimentary canal, about 20 feet long in humans.
• It has regions, the duodenum, the region which follows the stomach; the jejunum is the middle part; and the
ileum is the later region which continues further into the large intestine.
• The internal surface of the small intestine is folded into finger-like projections called villi.
• A common pancreatic duct from the pancreas and liver opens into the duodenum and pours bile and
pancreatic juice.
• Most of the chemical digestion and absorption takes place in the small intestine.
• The small intestine is longer than the large intestine, but its lumen (cavity) is smaller than that of the large
intestine.
• The walls of the small intestine contain glands which secrete intestinal juice.
• The enzymes present in it finally convert :
➢ Proteins into amino acids
➢ Fats into fatty acids and glycerol
➢ Complex carbohydrates into glucose

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• The major part of digestion takes place in the duodenum.
• No digestion takes place in the jejunum.
• The inner wall in the ileum is projected into numerous finger-like structures, called villi.

Villi
• Pancreatic juice coming from the pancreas, bile from the liver and intestinal juice secreted by the intestinal
glands completes the digestion of food material.
• All the digested nutrients are absorbed by the long finger-like projections present in the ileum of the small
intestine.
• These small finger-like projections of the inner wall of intestine are called villi (singular: villus).
• Villi increases the internal surface area of the intestinal walls making available a greater surface area for
absorption.
• Digested nutrients pass into the semipermeable villi through diffusion.
• Villi also reduces the lumen of the ileum so that food can stay for a longer duration in it, for optimum
absorption.
• Villi also helps in chemical digestion of food by secreting digestive enzymes.

Structure of Villi

❖ Large Intestine:
• Large intestine is smaller than the small intestine.
• Undigested food goes into the large intestine.
• Some water and salt are absorbed by the walls of the large intestine.
• The undigested food goes to the rectum, from where it is expelled out through the anus.
• Large Intestine absorb excess of water. The rest of the material is removed from the body via the anus.
(Egestion).

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 Parts of small intestine and large intestine

Physiology of Digestion
• The digestion of the food starts in the buccal cavity where the food is broken into small bits by the teeth and
made into a ball called bolus with the help of saliva. Chemical digestion also starts here as salivary amylase
digests starch into maltose and dextrin.
• This bolus then reaches the stomach via the peristaltic movements of the oesophagus where it is acted upon
by the acidic gastric juice and mixed thoroughly by the muscular movements of the stomach wall. The food
is now known as chyme. Proteins are digested here by the action of enzyme pepsin.
• The food is then passed on to the duodenum portion of the small intestine where secretions from bile,
pancreas, and intestine are also released. These juices have enzymes that help in the complete digestion of
the food particles present.
• Enzymes such as trypsin and protease breakdown proteins. And enzymes such as amylase and lipases break
down carbohydrates and fats respectively.
• All these broken-down simple substances are absorbed by the jejunum and ileum regions of the small
intestine. The undigested and unabsorbed substances are passed on to the large intestine where absorption of
water, minerals, and some drugs take place.
• The remaining substances in the large intestine that were not absorbed are known as feces and they are
temporarily stored in the rectum until defecation.

Digestive System in Other Animals

• Digestive systems in different animals vary in structure and function.
• The structure of the digestive system depends on the food habits of the animal.
• Small intestine in herbivores is long as the cellulose content of their plant-based diet takes a long time to
digest while in carnivorous animals it is comparatively shorter because meat gets digested faster.

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 Functions of different digestive enzymes along with their location
➢ Mouth
Salivary Amylase: converts starch into maltose and dextrin.

➢ Stomach
Pepsin: Breaks down protein in food into smaller particles known as peptides and amino acids.
The first step of protein digestion occurs in the stomach, whereas digestion of carbohydrates starts in the
mouth.
Gastric Lipase: responsible for digestion of dietary fat present in our stomach.

➢ Pancreas
Trypsin: helps in breakdown of protein into peptides and amino acids.
: helps in breakdown of protein into peptides
Pancreatic Amylase: digests the starch content of the food.
Pancreatic Lipase: Break down emulsified fats.

➢ Small Intestine
Intestinal juice convert
✓ Proteins into amino acids.
✓ Fats into fatty acids and glycerol.
✓ Complex carbohydrates into glucose.

❖ Dental caries or tooth decay

• Causes gradual softening of enamel and dentine.
• It begins when bacteria acting on sugars produce acids that softens or demineralizes the enamel.
• Masses of bacterial cells together with food particles stick to the teeth to form dental plaque.
• Saliva cannot reach the tooth surface to neutralize the acid as plaque covers the teeth.
• Brushing the teeth after eating removes the plaque before the bacteria produce acids.
• If untreated, microorganisms may invade the pulp, causing inflammation and infection.

Stages of tooth decay

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