Correct Answer - Option 3 : Hydrochloric Acid
The correct answer is Hydrochloric acid.
- The process of digestion is accomplished by mechanical and chemical processes.
- The buccal cavity performs two major functions, mastication of food and facilitation of swallowing.
- The chemical process of digestion is initiated in the oral cavity by the hydrolytic action of the carbohydrate splitting enzyme, the salivary amylase.
- The gastro-oesophageal sphincter controls the passage of food into the stomach.
- The mucosa of the stomach has gastric glands.
- The stomach stores the food for 4-5 hours.
- The food mixes thoroughly with the acidic gastric juice of the stomach by the churning movements of its muscular wall and is called the chyme.
- The proenzyme pepsinogen, on exposure to hydrochloric acid, gets converted into the active enzyme pepsin, the proteolytic enzyme of the stomach.
- Pepsin converts proteins into proteases and peptides.
- The mucus and bicarbonates present in the gastric juice play an important role in the lubrication and protection of the mucosa from the highly concentrated hydrochloric acid.
