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Peristalsis (Edexcel IGCSE Biology)
Revision Note
Peristalsis
- Peristalsis is a mechanism that helps moves food along the alimentary canal
- Firstly, muscles in the walls of the oesophagus create waves of contractions which force the bolus along
- Once the bolus has reached the stomach, it is churned into a less solid form, called chyme, which continues on to the small intestine
- Peristalsis is controlled by circular and longitudinal muscles
- Circular muscles contract to reduce the diameter of the lumen of the oesophagus or small intestine
- Longitudinal muscles contract to reduce the length of that section the oesophagus or the small intestine
- Mucus is produced to continually lubricate the food mass and reduce friction
- Dietary fibre provides the roughage required for the muscles to push against during peristalsis
Muscles in the alimentary canal contract rhythmically to move the partially digested food along in a wave-like action
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