ANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -Hydrochloric acid makes the environment in the stomach acidic, kills the microbes in the stomach which enter with the food and provides a desired acidic medium so that the enzyme pepsin can act on the food.

Detailed explanation-2: -The hydrochloric acid in the gastric juice breaks down the food and the digestive enzymes split up the proteins. The acidic gastric juice also kills bacteria.

Detailed explanation-3: -Hydrochloric acid (HCl), another component of the gastric juice, plays a crucial role in creating the pH required for pepsin activity. Parietal cells produce HCl by secreting hydrogen and chloride ions. When pepsinogen and hydrochloric acid exist together in the gastric juice, pepsin takes its active form.

Detailed explanation-4: -To digest proteins in our stomach, HCl transforms inactive pepsinogen into active pepsin. Apart from mucus, HCl functions as another stomach cover to prevent pepsin from digesting the entire stomach.

Detailed explanation-5: -The functions of HCl in the stomach are: It kills any germs that may have entered the alimentary canal along with the food. It creates an acidic environment in the stomach by reducing the pH, which is required for the activation of pepsinogen into pepsin.