The digestive system breaks down food through mechanical and chemical digestion. Mechanical digestion begins in the mouth, where teeth chew and the tongue mixes food with saliva. Saliva contains the enzyme amylase which begins to break down carbohydrates. The food then moves to the stomach through the esophagus. In the stomach, the enzyme pepsin and hydrochloric acid break proteins into smaller fragments. The partially digested food moves to the small intestine where pancreatic enzymes and bile further break nutrients into simple molecules which are absorbed. Undigested material moves to the large intestine where water is absorbed before waste is excreted through the rectum.