Gastric Juice

one of the digestive fluids. It is a clear, colorless liquid, with a salty taste and an acid reaction. The gastric juice is manufactured in gastric cells or glands, situated in the inner lining of the stomach and opening into its cavity. The amount secreted is large, equaling in weight about one-eleventh of the human body. Only a small portion is in the stomach at any one time. The chief ingredients are three--hydrochloric acid, rennin, and pepsin. The first element preserves food from decay, dissolves nitrogenous food, and softens tissues. Rennin curdles milk. Pepsin produces a change in nitrogenous foods that prepares them for absorption. Oils and fats are not digested by the gastric juice. The mixture of gastric juice and food produces a grayish liquid known as chyme.