Animal Nutrition

Flashcards covering key vocabulary related to animal nutrition, including definitions and important concepts from the lecture.

Essential Nutrients

Materials required by an organism that cannot be synthesized from simpler organic molecules and must be obtained from the diet.

Four classes

1. Essential amino acids

2. Essential fatty acids

3. Vitamins

4. Minerals

Essential Amino Acids

The amino acids that animals must obtain from their food, which cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities.

All organisms require 20 amino acids

Essential Fatty Acids

Certain unsaturated fatty acids that cannot be synthesized by the body and must be obtained through the diet.

Vitamins

Organic molecules required in the diet in very small amounts, essential for various physiological functions.

13 vitamins are essential for humans

Minerals

Simple inorganic nutrients generally required in small amounts for various biological processes.

Variation due to diets

Herbivores dine mainly on plants or algae

Carnivores mostly eat other animals

Omnivores regularly consume animals and plants or algae

Malnutrition

A failure to obtain adequate nutrition, which can lead to health issues and physiological impairments.

Undernourishment

A condition resulting from a diet lacking sufficient chemical energy, leading to the use of stored fat and protein, loss of muscle mass

Food processing

1. Ingestion-act of eating or feeding

2. Digestion-process of breaking food down and into molecule small enough to absorb

   • Mechanical digestion-chewing or grinding, increases the surface area of food

   • Chemical Digestion-splits food into small molecules can pass through membranes

3. Absorption-is uptake of small molecules by body cells

4. Elimination-is the passage of undigested material out of the digestive system

Peristalsis

The process of alternating waves of smooth muscle contraction and relaxation that pushes food through the esophagus.

• Sphincters-valves that regulate the movement of material between compartments

Gastrovascular cavity

For animals with a simple body plan functions in both digestion and distribution of Nutrients

Alimentary Canal

The complete digestive tract

1. Mouth

2. Pharynx

3. Esophagus

4. Stomach

5. Small and large intestines

6. Rectum

7. Anus

Accessory glands

Secrete digestive juices through ducts through into the alimentary Canal

Salivary glands, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder

Oral Cavity, Pharynx, and Esophagus

Oral cavity-where food processing begins

Salivary glands-deliver saliva to lubricate food and which contains mucus of viscous mixture of water, salt and cells and glycol proteins, and also contains amylase, which breaks down starch

• Pharynx(throat)-junction that opens to both the esophagus and trachea

  • Esophagus connects to the stomach

  • Trachea(windpipe) leads to the lungs

Digestion in the stomach

Stomach-store food and process it into a liquid suspension and secretes gastric juice and mixes it with food through churning action

Chyme-The mixture of ingested food and gastric juice in the stomach, which is then passed to the small intestine.

Gastric Juice is made up of

• Hydrochloric Acid

• Pepsin-a protease, breaks peptide bonds to cleave proteins into smaller polypeptides

The Small Intestine

• Small intestine-longest compartment of the alimentary canal

  • Duodenum-the first portion of the small intestine

  • The Jejunum second portion of small intestine for nutrient absorption

  • Ileum the third portion of small intestine for nutrient absorption

  • Ileocecal Valve- the portion of the small intestine where it connects to the large intestine

• Huge surface area due to villi and microvilli that are exposed to the intestinal lumen

Absorption in the Small Intestine

• The hepatic portal vein carries nutrient-rich blood from the capillaries of the villi to the liver, then to the heart

• The liver regulates nutrient distribution, interconverts many organic molecules, & detoxifies many organic molecules

Processing in the Large Intestine

• Large intestine ends the alimentary canal

  • Cecum aids in the fermentation of plant material & connects where the small & large intestines meet

  • has an extension called the appendix, which plays a minor role in immunity

• Processing in the Large Intestine pt2

• Colon completes the recovery of water that began in the small intestine

  • Feces, the wastes of the digestive system, become more solid as they move through the colon

• Rectum store feces until they can be eliminated through the anus

  • Two sphincters between the rectum & anus control bowel movements (one voluntary & one involuntary)

    • the first part is the ascending colon, then transverse colon, and then the descending colon.

Microbiome

collection of the microorganisms living in and on the body

• Regulation of energy storage

• The body stores energy not needed for metabolism right away

  • Energy is stored first in the liver & muscle cells as glycogen

  • Excess energy is stored in fat in adipose cells

Glucose Homeostasis

• relies on the opposing effects of two hormones,

• Insulin & glucagon

• regulate the breakdown of glycogen into glucose

• Liver is the site for glucose homeostasis

Diabetes Mellitus

Deficiency of insulin or decreased response to insulin in target tissues