Question:medium
Maximum water reabsorption in the gastrointestinal tract occurs in:
Maximum water reabsorption in the gastrointestinal tract occurs in:
Show Hint
The proximal small bowel handles the largest fluid volume, not the colon.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Stomach
- Jejunum
- Ileum
- Colon
Show Solution
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Think of the question as asking which gut segment recovers the most water by volume.
The intestine receives about 9 litres of fluid per day once you add dietary intake to the various digestive secretions. The job of getting that water back falls almost entirely on the small bowel, which returns roughly 8 to 8.5 litres. The colon mops up only the leftover litre or so.
Water movement across the gut wall is passive and follows solutes, chiefly sodium that is pumped out and the sodium dragged along with glucose and amino acids. This active solute transport peaks in the proximal small intestine, which is the jejunum. Where solute uptake is highest, water uptake is highest too, so the jejunum wins.
Quick rule-out: the stomach absorbs essentially no water, the ileum specialises in bile salt and $B_{12}$ recovery rather than bulk water, and the colon deals with a far smaller residual volume even though it concentrates the stool.
\[\boxed{\text{Jejunum}}\]
The intestine receives about 9 litres of fluid per day once you add dietary intake to the various digestive secretions. The job of getting that water back falls almost entirely on the small bowel, which returns roughly 8 to 8.5 litres. The colon mops up only the leftover litre or so.
Water movement across the gut wall is passive and follows solutes, chiefly sodium that is pumped out and the sodium dragged along with glucose and amino acids. This active solute transport peaks in the proximal small intestine, which is the jejunum. Where solute uptake is highest, water uptake is highest too, so the jejunum wins.
Quick rule-out: the stomach absorbs essentially no water, the ileum specialises in bile salt and $B_{12}$ recovery rather than bulk water, and the colon deals with a far smaller residual volume even though it concentrates the stool.
\[\boxed{\text{Jejunum}}\]
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