Question

how would non secretion of hydrochloric acid in our stomach affect food digestion

Answer 1

If there would be no HCl in our stomachs, germs in the foods would not be killed and would infect the elementary canal, and the inactive enzyme pepsinogen would not become active pepsin which aids in digestion of proteins, therefore resulting in non digested proteinic matter.

Answer 2

Answer :

Inorder to known how digestion in our stomach will be affected by non-secretion of Hydrochloric Acid, we have to first learn what roles do HCl have in our stomach. The roles of HCl in our stomach during digestion are as follows :

i) Hydrochloric Acid activates enzymes in the stomach.

ii) It kills unwanted bacteria present in the stomach.

iii) Helps to provide acidic medium which helps the proteins to be digested.

So if there is no secretion of HCl, there will not be digestion of proteins. Lack of HCl secretion in stomach will fail to convert pepsinogen (an inactive enzyme) into pepsin (the active form). Absence of pepsin enzyme will hinder the digestion of proteins because HCl helps in maintaining the acidic pH required for the pepsins to work.