Nutrition:
 
The process through which living organisms obtain ATP necessary for growth, development and maintenance is called nutrition.
 
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Types of heterotrophic nutrition and Holozoic nutrition
 
a. Holozoic: Organisms ingest, digest, and absorb complex food (e.g., Amoeba, animals, humans).
b. Saprophytic: Organisms obtain nutrients from dead and decaying matter by external digestion (e.g., fungi, bacteria).
c. Parasitic: Organisms derive food from a living host, harming it (e.g., mosquito, tapeworm).
 
Nutrition in other organisms:
 
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Nutrition in Amoeba and Paramecium
 
1. Amoeba: Amoeba engulfs food using pseudopodia by phagocytosis, forming a food vacuole where digestion occurs. The digested nutrients diffuse into the cytoplasm, and undigested food is expelled.

2. Paramecium: Paramecium uses cilia to sweep food into the oral groove, forming a food vacuole for intracellular digestion. The nutrients are absorbed into the cytoplasm, and waste is removed through the anal pore.
 
Nutrition in human beings
 
The alimentary canal is a long tube from mouth to anus, with specialized regions for digestion.
 
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Process of digestion
 
Mouth: 
  • Food is chewed by teeth and mixed with saliva, which contains salivary amylase to break starch into sugar.
  • The tongue helps mix and move food.

Oesophagus: 

  • Food moves to the stomach through peristaltic movements.

Stomach: 

  • Gastric glands secrete HCl, pepsin, and mucus.
  • HCl aids protein digestion; mucus protects the stomach lining.
  • Food exits gradually via a sphincter into the small intestine.

Small intestine: 

  • Longest part of the canal thats is coiled to fit the abdomen.
  • Small intestine receives bile (from liver) and pancreatic juice (from pancreas).
    • Bile neutralizes acid and emulsifies fats (Emulsification)
    • Pancreatic enzymes are trypsin (proteins) and lipase (fats).
  • Villi absorb nutrients into blood vessels for energy, growth, and repair.

Large intestine and anus: 

  • Absorbs water from waste; remaining material is expelled through the anus under control of the anal sphincter.
Nutrition in humans includes ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation, and egestion, providing energy and materials for life.
 
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The parts of human digestive system
 
Activity to check the action of salivary amylase
 
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Activity of salivary amylase in digestion
 
Starch solution is mixed with saliva in one test tube and water in another, then tested with iodine after some time. The saliva-treated sample shows no blue-black color, proving that salivary amylase breaks starch into sugars.