The stomach is the temporary Storage Area for the food we eat, stomach helps in proper mixing and digestion of food because of the gastric juice. The Small Intestine And Large Intestine present in the stomach plays a major part in digestion of food and the absorption of water, minerals, vitamins, etc to the body.
SMALL INTESTINE
Small Intestine plays a role in movement of food because it consists of peristalsis ( a series of wave like muscle contractions that moves food). Intestinal juice is secreted in the small intestine which results in completion of process of digestion in the small intestine and the major portion of absorption of food will takes place in the small intestine. The inner surface of the small intestine contains several folds called villi.
LARGE INTESTINE
Large Intestine plays an important role in absorption of minerals, vitamins, water, some drugs, etc and in large intestine, we see bacterial action on the wastes of digestion. The materials move in The large intestine because of the mass peristalsis and the peristaltic waves plays an important role in removing gas from the large intestine. The large intestine ends at ‘anus’ and it measures about 1.5 m length.
DIFFERENCES TABLE
| SMALL INTESTINE | LARGE INTESTINE |
|---|---|
| The Small Intestine is of a 9 meters length with a Long tube like structure. | The Large Intestine is 1.5 meters only but the diameter is more than that of small intestine. |
| DIGESTION | |
| Small Intestine digests the partially digested food completely. | Digestion does not takes place in Large Intestine. |
| ABSORPTION | |
| The digested food is absorbed through villi into blood in the Small Intestine. | The Large Intestine absorbs the water and mineral salts present in the waste material remaining after digestion. |
| OTHERS | |
| The villi present in the walls of the Small Intestine increases the surface area for absorption. | The colon in the Large Intestine acts as a Storage tank for faeces. |
| END STAGE | |
| The undigested food enters into the large intestine from Small Intestine. | The Large Intestine expels out the remaining waste material in the form of stole through anus. |
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it is very clear that small intestine and large intestine play an important role in the process of digestion. There are many health problems arise when our digestive system is not working properly.
