Question

1. You are preparing to eat a delicious cheeseburger and are thinking about how your digestive system will handle the food.  

For each of the following molecules name the final monomer unit that is absorbed and how each molecule is digested chemically to monomers (which enzymes are involved, where the digestion occurs for each enzyme and where each enzyme is produced).  
(I suggest you use a table to organize this)

1. Carbohydrate (In the bread)
2. Protein (In the beef)
3. Fat (in the cheese)

Answer 1

a) carbohydrates - the final monomer unit that gets absorbed is glucose. The digestion begins in mouth where salivary amylase act in dietary carbohydrates and convert them into dextrins, and polysaccharides. Then, pancreatic amylase acts in the duodenum and small intestine which further breaks down polysaccharides and dextrins into monosaccharides such as glucose, and fructose which gets absorbed through active transport in intestinal lining.

b) Protein - the final monomer unit that gets absorbed is amino acid. Begins 8n stomach where pepsin acts on dietary proteins converting them into denatured and hydrolysed proteins. Then, enzymes like trypsin, chymotrypsin, carboxy peptidase and amino peptidase acts in small intestine converting them into small peptides and amino acids which gets absorbed through active transport in intestinal walls.

c) Fat - absorbed in the form of chylomicrons. There is physical breakdown of dietary lipids in stomach converting into chyme. This is then acted upon by pancreatic lipase in duodenum. Further, emulsification of fats takes place with the help of bile. This results in the form of monoglycerides and diglycerides which gets absorbed in the chylomicrons micelles through lacteals.