Digestive System
The human digestive system includes the gastrointestinal tract that helps in the process of digestion or breakdown of food molecules into small components. It is also known as the GI tract or digestive tract. The GI tract is a region from the mouth to the anus. It can also be defined as a sequence of hollow organs joined in a twisting, long tube from the mouth to the anus. Learn difference between small intestine and large intestine here.
The digestive system includes solid organs like the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder. The GI tract includes hollow organs are the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and anus. The liver, pancreas, and gallbladder are the solid accessory organs of the digestive system. These organs also play an important role in the digestion process.
Let us understand the difference between the small intestine and the large intestine in detail.
Difference Between Small Intestine And Large Intestine
| Character | Small Intestine | Large Intestine |
| Digestion | Small intestine helps in completing digestion. | Large intestine does not play any role in digestion. |
| Length | It is measured around 4.5 – 7.0 m in size. | It is measured around 1.5 m in size. |
| Width | Small intestine is narrow in width of around 3.5 – 4.5 cm. | Large intestine has width of around 4 – 6 cm in diameter. |
| Villi | Villi is present in small intestine. | Villi is absent in large intestine. |
| Motility | Small intestine shows small movements in the abdominal cavity. | It is fixed or show very little mobility. |
| Parts | Small intestine has three parts, jejunum, duodenum and ileum. | Large intestine has four parts, which are, rectum, colon, caecum and anal canal. |
| Muscle bands | Small intestine is capable to forms the layer of continuous bands of muscles around it. | Large intestine is reduced to three types of muscles bands. These bands are known as taeniae coli. |
| Taeniae Coli | Taenia coli is absent in small intestine. | Taenia Coli are present in large intestine. |
| Hormones | Various hormones are secreted by small intestine. | No hormones are secretedby large intestine. |
| Circular folds | Internal surface of small intestine has circular folds. These folds are also known as ‘palicae circulares’. | Circular folds are absent in large intestine. |
| Hastura | It is absent in small intestine. | It is present in large intestine. |
| Activity | Small intestine absorb the nutrients from the digested food. | Large intestine helps in the absorption of water and electrolytes and in production of vitamins. |
| Peyers Patches | Peyers Patches are present in small intestine. | Peyers patches are absent in large intestine. |
Small Intestine
The small intestine has the narrowest diameter of all the parts, though it is the longest one which measures around 4.5 to 7 m in the length. This tube kind of structure is present between the large intestine and stomach and coiled in the abdomen. The internal surface of the small intestine has circular folds. These folds are circular folds and villi. This villus is a microscopic finger-like projection.
These villi help in increasing the surface area for absorbing the maximum nutrients available. In this part, the food remains for a longer duration for the purpose of digestion and absorption, as due to the presence of circular folds, the movement of food slows down through the intestine.
The small intestine has three parts, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. Duodenum is considered as smallest part among the three and starts from the end of the stomach. It has a small opening through the biliary system and pancreas. The main function is to break down proteins and fats. It also allows digestive excretions to flow into it. The jejunum is present in the middle of the small intestine.
The villi help in the absorption of all the digested products, present in the jejunum. The ileum is the last part of the small intestine. It ends in the large intestine. Ileum plays an important role in absorbing the remaining nutrients, vitamins like vitamin B12 and bile salts.
Large Intestine
The Large intestine has a wider diameter and hence called the large intestine. The length is measured around 1.5 m in size. It is also known as colon or large bowel. The Large intestine is the last part of the alimentary canal. Thus, the large intestine opens outside through anus.
The large intestine starts exactly where the small intestine ends. It has four parts, rectum, colon, caecum, and anal canal. The Large intestine consists of smooth muscles. These muscles contract and relax the work until the food is excreted through the anus.
Colon includes four parts, ascending colon, descending colon, transverse colon, and sigmoid colon. The main function is to absorb water and salts from the digested products and store the remaining product as feces. Due to the absence of villi, it does not have the capacity to absorb nutrients. Caecum has an attachment to a vestigial organ. This organ is known as ‘Appendix’.
Microflora which is present in the large intestine helps in the production of vitamins such as vitamin B2, vitamin B1, vitamin K, vitamin B12. This is also known as benign bacteria. The Large intestine has taeniae Coli. Taeniae coli is the longitudinal muscle. It starts from the appendix base and increases up to the rectum.
Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_digestive_system
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