Question

Epithelial cells of the intestine which are involved in food absorption have …………... on their surface

Answer 1

The mucosal layer of the small intestine is arranged in folds. These folds are called villi and they increase the surface area for absorption of nutrients after digestion.

Each villus has tall columnar cells and each of these cells has small finger-like projections called microvilli on its upper free surface. This further increases the surface area for absorption of food.

The mechanism by which the cells intake extracellular fluid material by forming vesicles is called pinocytosis and the vesicles thus formed are called pinocytic vesicles. But if the cell engulfs solid material then the process is called phagocytosis. The vesicles formed during the phagocytosis are called phagocytic vesicles.

The exocrine part of the pancreas contain specialised cells meant for the sorting, packaging and regulated secretion of pancreatic digestive enzymes. Those specialised cells contain cytoplasmic vesicles that contain the inactive precursors of enzymes called zymogens. These vesicles are known as zymogen granules.