In this blog we are going to tell you about Difference between Bolus and Chyme, so read this blog carefully to get the complete information.
Our body is exposed to different biological and chemical processes to work properly. Our different body parts are involved in processes. Some of the basic processes include respiration, digestion, excretion, etc. Digestion is one of the most complex processes which is carried out in the human body. During the process of digestion, Bolus and Chyme are two products obtained in the mouth and stomach respectively. But most people get confused with these words. So in this article, we will tell you about what Bolus and Chyme are and how they differ from each other.
What is Bolus?
In the digestion process, Bolus is obtained. It is a ball-like soft structure of food that is formed when saliva is mixed with food in the mouth after the intake of food and chewing it. It gets inside our body from mouth to stomach. In other words, teeth and saliva change the food into a bolus. The bolus is alkaline because of the nature of salivary enzymes. The color of Bolus is similar to the color of food. It is obtained in the initial stage of digestion as it is the result of chewing food. The main function of the bolus is to break down the food into small pieces which increases the surface area of the food so that the enzyme can act easily on it.
What is Chyme?
Chyme is also known as Chymus. In the digestion process, it is a semi-liquid or paste of product that is obtained when the food is mixed with gastric juices in the stomach so that the food can get digested in the stomach. In other words, Chyme is formed due to the mechanical processing of bolus. Chyme is formed by the gastric juices present in the stomach and this is the reason it is more acidic as gastric juices are acidic. It is the same color as natural food. The main function of Chyme is to increase the surface area of food in the stomach so that it can get easily digested during the digestive process.
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Differences between Bolus and Chyme
The following are the main differences between Bolus and Chyme as mentioned below:
- Bolus is used to referring to the soft spherical shape of food which is obtained when saliva is mixed with food in the mouth whereas Chyme refers to a semi-liquid product that is obtained when gastric juices are mixed with food in the stomach.
- The simplest difference between Bolus and Chyme is that bolus is the food that is mixed with saliva while the chyme is the food that is mixed with gastric juices.
- Bolus is formed in the mouth and makes its way to the stomach while Chyme is formed in the stomach and makes its way from the stomach to the small intestine.
- Bolus is the result of the chewing process in the mouth whereas Chyme is the result of the churning of food and gastric juices.
- Bolus is alkaline while the chyme is acidic.
- The color of the bolus is the same as the food you have taken while the color of the chyme is the same as the color of natural food.
- Bolus is formed at the beginning of the digestive process while the chyme is obtained at the later stage of the process.
- The main function of the bolus is to break down food while the main function of Chyme is to increase the surface area of food so that it can be easily digested.
Conclusion
To conclude, besides having similarities in many ways as they are part of a single process, they are different in various ways. Their differences include obtaining process, nature, and function. However, in short, you can remember that the main difference between Bolus and Chyme is that bolus is a ball-like structure that is formed by mixing food with saliva in the mouth while Chyme is a semi-liquid substance that is formed by mixing food with gastric acid in the stomach. So it is easy to remember that Bolus is formed in the mouth while Chyme is formed in the stomach. We hope that this article was helpful and now you know the difference between these two terms as discussed above.
I Hope this blog is sufficient enough to provide the information about Difference between Bolus and Chyme. Thanks for reading this blog.