The many enzymes involved in chemical digestion are summarized in Table 1. Some digested products from fats cannot be absorbed into the blood. Your Digestive Systems Prepares Food for the Small Intestine. Eating good food is vital. Large food molecules (for example, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and starches) must be broken down into subunits that are small enough to be absorbed by the lining of the alimentary canal. When that slurry passes into the small intestine, it comes into contact with the villi. The main goal is to absorb the food quickly into the blood stream. It then pushes the small particles of food into the first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum. Figure 1. The pleasurable effects of alcohol are best achieved with a meal or when alcohol is drunk diluted, in the case of spirits. Good digestion changes the food you eat into tiny molecules for nutrients absorption into your bloodstream. 9.6 – Absorption Process Intermediate 2 Biology . Once the food has been digested, the next step is for the products – sugars, amino acids, fatty acids and monoacylglycerols – to be absorbed (see Figure 9). The primary function of the small intestine is the absorption of nutrients and minerals found in food. When food is broken down in the stomach, it forms a substance called chyme, which is a slurry of nutrients. 6. The stomach is the sac that stores and digests food macromolecules into a solution called chyme. Blood carries nutrients like sugars and amino acids from the absorbed food into the liver where they are processed. As the food gets broken down into smaller and simpler particles, it has to get absorbed into the bloodstream. In this section, you will look more closely at the processes of chemical digestion and absorption. The many microscopic protuberances called vilii (microvilii) create a very high surface area within the small intestine, making absorption of nutrients into the blood vessels much more rapid. Glands lining the stomach secrete hydrochloric acid that dissolves food particles and protein-digesting enzymes, called pepsin. The inside of the small intestine is covered in minute, finger-like projections, called villi (Figure 9). Absorption of food 1. Glands lining the stomach secrete hydrochloric acid that dissolves food particles and protein-digesting enzymes, called pepsin. Absorption is the process by which the end products of digestion pass through the intestinal mucosa into the blood or lymph. Final stages of digestion and most of the nutrient absorption occur in the next portion of the tract: the small intestine. Fig. Intestinal villus : An image of a simplified structure of the villus. From the liver, these nutrients are delivered to other parts of the body where they are required. The carbohydrates and proteins in the chyme enter the bloodstream passively via the vein and artery. 9.6 – Absorption Process Intermediate 2 Biology 3.1 Absorption into the blood. Absorption, therefore, of all solvent and fluid matters from the intestine into the veins of the villi takes place easily and rapidly. It is carried out by passive, active or facilitated transport mechanisms. Drinks aerated with carbon dioxide—for example, whisky and soda, and champagne—get into the system quicker. absorption [ab-sorp´shun] 1. the act of taking up or in by specific chemical or molecular action; especially the passage of liquids or other substances through a surface of the body into body fluids and tissues, as in the absorption of the end products of digestion into the villi that line the intestine. Chemical digestion, on the other hand, is a complex process that reduces food into its chemical building blocks, which are then absorbed to nourish the cells of the body.