Food, Energy, and Digestion

Nutritional Requirements

The needs for energy related to external activities like reproduction, seeking resources, and avoiding predation; also includes internal activities like maintenance and growth.

Hydrolysis

The uptake of water that causes the breakdown of large molecules, primarily occurring during digestion.

Enzymes

Catalysts produced by the body that aid in digestion, with activity influenced by pH and temperature.

Protein Digestion

The process of breaking down proteins into amino acids, requiring enzymes like pepsin and trypsin.

Nitrogen Cycle

The process by which atmospheric nitrogen becomes available to living organisms through recycling, nitrogen fixation, and absorption by bacteria and plants.

Lipid Digestion

The breakdown of lipids into small droplets in the midgut, requiring bile salts and lipases secreted by the pancreas.

Carbohydrate Digestion

The breakdown of carbohydrates into monosaccharides for absorption, involving enzymes targeting disaccharides and polysaccharides.

Foregut

The region of the digestive tract including the liver, gallbladder, stomach, esophagus, and associated glands.

Hindgut

The part of the digestive system including the transverse colon, descending colon, and rectum.

Ruminants

Animals with a multi-chambered stomach allowing for foregut fermentation and the ability to digest low-quality food through regurgitation and remastication.

Coprophagy

The act of eating feces to regain microbes lost during excretion, essential for effective digestion.

Carnivore Digestion

A feeding strategy characterized by a short digestive tract and a high stomach acid content to efficiently process nutrient-rich meat.

Omnivore Digestion

An adaptable digestive system that allows the consumption and digestion of a variety of food resources, resulting in diverse digestive structures.

Absorption

The transport of monosaccharides and free amino acids across cellular membranes following digestion.

Ballen Feeding System

A low-energy feeding system used by the largest mammals and fish for suspension feeding.