Final answer:
The digestion of disaccharides maltose, sucrose, and lactose occurs in the small intestine, mainly the duodenum, where they are broken down by specific enzymes maltase, sucrase, and lactase into monosaccharides prior to absorption into the bloodstream.
Step-by-step explanation:
Location of Disaccharide Digestion
The digestion of disaccharides such as maltose, sucrose, and lactose primarily takes place in the small intestine, more specifically within the duodenum. When the chyme transfers from the stomach to the duodenum, it interacts with the digestive enzymes from the pancreas, liver, and gallbladder. The pancreatic juice contains amylase that further breaks down the starch into disaccharides.
These disaccharides are then hydrolyzed into monosaccharides like glucose, fructose, and galactose by the respective disaccharidases: maltase, sucrase, and lactase, which are present in the brush border of the small intestine's lining. Maltase cleaves maltose into two glucose units; sucrase splits sucrose into glucose and fructose; and lactase breaks down lactose into glucose and galactose.
These resulting monosaccharides are readily absorbed across the intestinal wall into the bloodstream for transport to various cells in the body, where they can be utilized in metabolic pathways to generate energy.