Peristaltic movements help push food forward along the digestive tract, ensuring it moves through each part of the gut for proper processing and absorption of nutrients.

The muscular tongue aids in the mechanical breakdown of food by moving it around the mouth while chewing. This movement helps to further mix the food with saliva, ensuring even distribution of digestive enzymes and facilitating the swallowing process.

The sensation of the mouth ‘watering’ is caused by the secretion of saliva by the salivary glands. This saliva moistens the food, making it easier to chew and swallow, and also contains enzymes that initiate the digestion of certain food ...

Chewing mechanically breaks down food into smaller particles, increasing its surface area for enzymatic action. This process also mixes the food thoroughly with saliva, ensuring the even distribution of digestive enzymes and promoting effective digestion.

Salivary amylase is an enzyme present in saliva that catalyzes the breakdown of starch molecules into simpler sugars, facilitating their digestion.