Digested food is carried from small intestine to the liver by the

Step 1: Analyze the question We need the blood vessel that carries digested (absorbed) food from the small intestine to the liver.

Step 2: The concept After digestion, nutrients such as glucose and amino acids are absorbed into the capillaries of the villi in the small intestine. This nutrient-rich blood must go to the liver first, where it is processed. The liver regulates blood sugar by converting excess glucose to glycogen, deaminates excess amino acids, and detoxifies harmful substances.

A portal vein is a vein that connects two capillary networks. Here it links the capillaries of the intestine to the sinusoids (capillaries) of the liver. This is the hepatic portal vein.

Step 3: Check each option

• A. Hepatic artery: Carries oxygenated blood from the aorta to the liver. It does not carry digested food.
• B. Hepatic portal vein: Carries nutrient-rich blood from the small intestine (and other parts of the gut) to the liver. Correct.
• C. Hepatic vein: Carries blood away from the liver to the inferior vena cava.
• D. Inferior vena cava: Returns deoxygenated blood from the lower body to the heart.
• E. Superior vena cava: Returns deoxygenated blood from the head and upper body to the heart.

Step 4: Answer The correct option is B, hepatic portal vein.

Tip: Remember the flow: Intestine → hepatic portal vein → liver → hepatic vein → inferior vena cava → heart. The word "portal" means a gateway between two capillary beds. Also, "hepatic" means "of the liver", so the vein going to the liver is the portal vein, and the one leaving it is the hepatic vein.