Name a structure involved in mechanical digestion besides teeth.

Name a structure involved in mechanical digestion besides teeth.

• A. Liver
• B. Oesophagus
• C. Stomach
• D. Pancreas

Answer: (A)

Mechanical digestion is the physical breakdown of food into smaller pieces, driven by muscles and movement rather than enzymes. After chewing, the stomach takes over this role by its muscular walls contracting rhythmically to churn and mix the swallowed material with gastric juice. This action turns solid food into a semi-liquid chyme, increasing the surface area for chemical digestion to follow. The liver and pancreas are involved in chemical digestion—bile and enzymes help break down nutrients—but they don’t physically grind or mix food. The oesophagus mainly transports food downward via peristaltic waves, not by grinding it up. So the structure involved in mechanical digestion besides teeth is the stomach.

Mechanical digestion is the physical breakdown of food into smaller pieces, driven by muscles and movement rather than enzymes. After chewing, the stomach takes over this role by its muscular walls contracting rhythmically to churn and mix the swallowed material with gastric juice. This action turns solid food into a semi-liquid chyme, increasing the surface area for chemical digestion to follow. The liver and pancreas are involved in chemical digestion—bile and enzymes help break down nutrients—but they don’t physically grind or mix food. The oesophagus mainly transports food downward via peristaltic waves, not by grinding it up. So the structure involved in mechanical digestion besides teeth is the stomach.