Question

What are two reasons why starch is not digested in the stomach?

Answer 1

Hint: The intake of food is done by the mouth region and then it is excreted out through the anus of the body. During this whole process, the food is broken down into smaller particles and are digested and absorbed and their nutrients are transferred to the body.

Complete answer
The food in the mouth is taken in small amounts. The food is then mixed with salivary amylase enzyme and from here the digestion of the starch starts. The mouth is the region from where the scratch digestion occurs and it will move into the region of the intestine where the digestion will occur further. The food is first chewed and then mixed with the salivary amylase enzyme that helps in the easy movement of the food from the mouth to the esophagus. Then from the esophagus, the food is then transferred into the stomach where the starch digestion is prevented due to the absence of salivary amylase enzymes, and this results in the increase in pH level making the medium more acidic. This increase in ph will stop the functioning of the salivary amylase enzyme. This happens due to the presence of various digestive juices and thus the starch digestion stops here.

Additional information
The digestion of food does not occur only in the movement of food from the mouth to the stomach but also in between In the esophagus as well. In this region the food when mixed with saliva and after chewing will form a paste-like structure called bolus which can be easily swallowed by the process known as peristalsis. The process of movement is known as the peristaltic movement. The hydrochloric acid present in the stomach will help in breaking down the food particles into the smaller sub-particles which help in the digestion of food. The acidic nature of the stomach is also helpful in maintaining the pH of the stomach. The small intestine is divided into three parts, the fort's part is the duodenum which connects the small intestine with the stomach. The other two parts of the small intestine are the jejunum and the ileum. Most of the food digestion occurs in the region of the small intestine.

Note:
The starch starts to digest itself in the mouth region and breaks down to form the particles of the maltose sugar. The maltose then reaches the stomach where the salivary amylase activity is prevented due to the gastric juices present in it. Then the maltose reaches the small intestine where it is digested. The pancreas will secrete the enzymes that help in the breakdown of the disaccharides into monosaccharides.