Digestive system

- Humans gain the molecular building blocks they need for energy and growth from digestion of food by the digestive system. - System of organs that is adapted for the hydrolysis of food molecules and the absorption of their products. - Amylase in the saliva hydrolyses starch to maltose, which is digested in the intestinal epithelium to α-glucose. - In the stomach endopeptidases such break down proteins in smaller peptides, and exopeptidases further hydrolyse these into amino acids in the small intestine. - Glucose is then absorbed by sodium-glucose transport, a type of AT that involves the enzyme ATPase which hydrolyses ATP to ADP and Pi releasing energy to pump sodium ions out, and potassium into epithelial cells creating diffusion gradient for sodium and glucose uptake.