NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Food is taken into the mouth where it is physically broken down by the teeth into smaller pieces. The presence of food in the mouth triggers a nervous reflex that causes the salivary glands to deliver a watery fluid called saliva to the mouth.

Detailed explanation-2: -So, the correct answer is ‘Ingestion’.

Detailed explanation-3: -Ingestion can be referred to as an organism’s consumption of a substance. In the case of human beings, when the food is taken in from the mouth and then masticated and swallowed for further processing, it is called ingestion. It takes place by absorbing substances by cell membranes in single-celled organisms.

Detailed explanation-4: -Figure 2. The digestive processes are ingestion, propulsion, mechanical digestion, chemical digestion, absorption, and defecation.