Question

One of the effects of the hormone secretin is to stimulate the release of bicarbonate ions into the duodenum, which neutralizes the acid that enters the duodenum with food from the stomach. One consequence of neutralizing the pH in the intestine is that:_________

Answer 1

It will enable gut enzymes to act on the bolus during digestion.

Step-by-step explanation:

The acidic presence of HCl (hydrochloric acid) in the gastric juice serves as a stimulus for the intestinal wall to produce secretin.

This hormone will act on the pancreas by stimulating the production of pancreatic juice that will contain enzymes (trypsinogen, amylase, lipases) and HCO3⁻ (bicarbonate) salts, which have base composition.

With this composition that will be sent to the duodenum, there will be neutralization of acidic solution coming from the stomach and pH leveling around 8.0 (slightly basic) which is great for the enzymes that work there.