Animal Series: Nutrition And Digestion

Welcome!

I am Precious Imo and I'm an animal scientists

<<<

I have decided to take my career very seriously on steemit, Being an animal scientists has become a very exciting practice especially with the new trends of the profitability of Animals (Whales, Goats, Snakes, Monkeys, etc) 😂
So Watch out!

Introduction

The central of Animal sciences can be represented in this summary:

Animal Science is the business of converting feed into flesh, milk and egg and everything that aids the success of this process.

For this discuss, animals refer to the animals that are domestic and that relate directly to the needs of man through consumable products. And today, i would be discussing Animal Nutrition which is a fundamental subject in the business of animal production.

Animal Nutrition

Animal Nutrition is a process that involves feed and the animal.

It is feeding the animal with the required amounts of nutrients contained in a feed for the animal to grow and give products.

images (1).jpeg
>>>

Nutrition in animal production is very important because it determines the quantity and quality of products obtained from the animals hence the profitability of the venture. Because nutrition involves the nutrients given to the animal and how it is utilized, hence digestion is a very important process in animal nutrition.

Digestion in mono-gastric Animals

Many organic compounds in food are in form of large insoluble molecules which have to be broken down into simpler forms before they can pads through the mucus membrane of the alimentary canal into the blood and lymph.

The process undergone to result in this breakdown is called digestion.

The digestion process can be grouped into:

Mechanical
Chemical
Microbial

The mechanical activities are Mastication and Muscular contractions of the alimentary canal.
The chemical activities are by enzymes secreted in different digestive juices used in digestion (E.g. Saliva)
The microbial part of digestion also involves enzymes and its brought about by the action of bacteria and protozoa which are microorganisms with special significance.

Digestion Process

The Alimentary canal is a tract extending from the mouth to the anus, lined with mucus membrane whose function is the ingestion, communication and absorption of digested food and the elimination of solid waste materials.
The movement of the intestinal content along the tract is produced by Peristaltic waves which are contractions of the circular muscles of the intestinal wall.

images (2).png
>>>
Digestion starts in the mouth
This is mainly mechanical i.e. Mastication (chewing). Helping to break down large particles of food and mix it with saliva which acts as a lubricant containing about 99% of of water and the remaining 1% comprises Mucin, Inorganic salt, α-Amylase and other lysozyme.

In the stomach
The inner surface of the stomach has an increased area through the infolding of the epithelium and contains variety of secretory cells collectively producing the gastric juice. These glands are stimulated to produce the juice by the presence of food in the stomach. The juice consist of Pepsinogen, Inorganic salts, Mucus and Hydrochloric acid.

In the Small Intestine
The partially digested food leaves the stomach into the small intestine where it is mixed with secretions from the duodenum, the liver and pancreas. The Brunner's gland secrete an alkaline solution which serves as a lubricant through the duodenum. Bile is secreted by the liver containing Sodium and Potassium salts of bile acids. While the pancreatic juice is secreted by the pancreas and delivered by the pancreatic duct.

Finally, the Large intestine
This is the main site of absorption of digested food so that before the food reaches the entrance of the colon, most of the hydrolysed food would have been absorbed.
Glands of the Large intestine are mucus glands and don't produce enzymes therefore extensive microbial activities takes place here. They include Lactobaccili, Streptococci, Coliforms, Yeast and Clostridia.
The faeces from the large intestine through tge anus consist of water, undigested food residue, digestive secretions, epithelial cells, bacteria and products of microbial decomposition.

In conclusion, we see that the body is a very complex yet delicate system that works in harmony.
Thank you for reading
I remain Precious Imo

my minions
I hope to get a badge soon 😊