Question

What would be the result if there were no villi in the intestinal tract and the walls of the intestines were smooth?

Answer 1

Very little nutrients will be taken up.

Explanation:

The most important function of the small intestine is absorption of nutrients from food that passes through the tract. The villi in the intestinal tract are protrusions of epithelial cells which increase the surface area significantly.

This large surface area allows for efficient uptake of nutrients. This efficiency is increased even more because each cell in the villi have microvilli on their surface.

When the small intestine would be completely smooth, there would be very little opportunity for absorption of nutrients. This quickly leads to a lack of nutrients , no matter how much you would eat.