The chyme than moves into the small intestine. Small Intestine Structurally, the small intestine is a tubular organ. It consists of a complex system of loops and coils, which fills a great deal of the abdominal cavity. The small intestine receives secretions from the liver and the pancreas, finalizes the digestion of the nutrients in chyme, absorbs the different products of digestion, and moves the remaining residues to the large intestine. The mesentery can be seen in the picture above.
Intestinal villi play a major role in the in the absorption of digestive products.
The villi line the small intestinal wall. Villi increase the surface area of the intestinal lining. The base of these glands secrete large amounts of a watery fluid. The watery fluid secreted by the base of the villi acts as a medium in which digestive products can move. Once the digestive products are in the watery fluid, they can than be moved back into the villi.