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Accessory Organs

What role do the liver and pancreas play in digestion?

Not all bacteria inside of our bodies make us sick.
The liver, gallbladder, and pancreas are accessory organs to the digestive system.
Now that you've seen how the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and intestines make up the digestive tract, you're ready to focus on three important accessory organs of the digestive system. These organs don't make up the "tube" of the digestive tract, and they have roles in other body systems, but digestion wouldn't be possible if it weren't for their presence. The picture below shows the digestive system's accessory organs. Read through each row in the table to see the names and functions of these organs.

Pancreas The pancreas secretes a juice through a tube (the pancreatic duct) into the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine). This juice contains many enzymes, including amylase, which breaks down starch; enzymes that break apart protein; and enzymes that break apart fats. The juice also contains basic (high pH) substances that neutralize the acid in chyme and prevent it from hurting the intestine.
Liver The liver makes a substance called bile. Bile contains substances that break large fat drops apart into smaller drops so they can be broken down into smaller pieces by the enzymes in the pancreatic juice.
Gallbladder The gallbladder stores the bile from the liver until it is ready to be released. When it is released, it enters the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine) through a tube called the bile duct.

Although they are not part of the digestive tract, the accessory organs play very important roles in the digestive system. See if you can complete each sentence below by dragging the correct word or letter to the blank space.

Click here to begin.

ProseCloze

The organ labeled
secretes enzymes that break down starches, fats, and proteins into the first part of the small intestine.
A
B
C
Correct!
This organ also makes substances that are basic (low in pH) in order to neutralize the acidic chyme coming from the stomach.

ProseCloze

The organ labeled A makes
, which is a substance that breaks fat drops into smaller droplets.
bile
amylase
pancreas
Correct!
Sorry, but that is not correct.

Complete

 

Question

Some people have their gallbladders removed, and live quite normal lives. What change in diet might they have to make in order to stay healthy?

People who've had their gallbladder removed often must watch the amount of fat they eat in their diet. This is because the gallbladder stores bile, which is necessary in the digestion of fat.