Facts about Small Intestine
The small intestine is the site where most of the nutrients from ingested food are absorbed and is covered in wrinkles or folds called plicae circulara.
Food from the stomach is allowed into the duodenum by a muscle called the pylorus, or pyloric sphincter, and is then pushed through the small intestine by a process of muscular-wavelike contractions called peristalsis.
The small intestine is the chief organ of both absorption and digestion.
The small intestine in humans is typically four to five times longer than the large intestine.
The three sections of the mammalian small intestine look similar to each other at a microscopic level, but there are some important differences.
The digestion of proteins into peptides and amino acids principally occurs in the stomach but some also occurs in the small intestine.
Amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, as well as some fish, tend to have an elongated and coiled small intestine (Ritchison 2007).
The small intestine in humans is typically four to five times longer than the large intestine.
The small intestine is the narrow tube of the gastrointestinal tract (gut) of vertebrates between the stomach and the large intestine that is responsible for most of the digestion.
On average, the diameter of the small intestine of an adult human measures approximately 2.5 to three centimeters, and the large intestine measures about 7.6 centimeters in diameter.