What are the main components of the digestive system?

The digestive system is a group of organs that work together to break down and absorb food. The main components of the digestive system are:

• Mouth: where food is taken in and begins to be broken down by chewing and the action of enzymes in saliva.
• Esophagus: a muscular tube that transports food from the mouth to the stomach.
• Stomach: a sac-like organ that mixes and grinds food with digestive juices to form a liquid called chyme.
• Small intestine: a long, narrow tube where most of the digestion and absorption of nutrients takes place.
• Large intestine: a wider tube that absorbs water and electrolytes from the remaining indigestible material, forming feces.
• Rectum: where feces are stored until they are eliminated through the anus.

Other organs that contribute to the digestive process include the liver, which produces bile that helps digest fats, the gallbladder, which stores and releases bile, and the pancreas, which produces enzymes that aid in digestion and neutralizes stomach acid.