Stomach the small intestine, where the extraction of nutrients begins. Depending on the quantity and contents of the meal, the stomach will digest the food into chyme within anywhere between forty minutes and a few hours. The average human stomach can comfortably hold about a litre of food. Gastric juice in the stomach also contains pepsinogen. Hydrochloric acid activates this inactive form of enzyme into the active form, pepsin. Pepsin breaks down proteins into polypeptides. Although the absorption in the human digestive system is mainly a function of the small intestine, some absorption of certain small molecules nevertheless does occur in
Erythorbic acid uptake or clearance from the body was found. A later study found that erythorbic acid is a potent enhancer of nonheme-iron absorption. Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the use of sulfites as a preservative in foods intended to be eaten fresh (such as salad bar ingredients), the use of erythorbic acid as a food preservative has increased. It is also used as a preservative in cured meats and frozen vegetables. It was first synthesized in 1933 by the German chemists Kurt Maurer and Bruno Schiedt. Erythorbic acid Erythorbic acid (isoascorbic acid, -araboascorbic acid) is a stereoisomer of