The muscular action that propels food through the esopahgus is called?
Peristalsis is a symmetrical contraction of muscles which propagates in a wave down the muscular tube, more specifically the esophagus. In humans, peristalsis is found in the contraction of smooth muscles to propel contents through the digestive tract.In much of the gastrointestinal tract, smooth muscles contract in sequence to produce a peristaltic wave which forces a ball of food (called a bolus while in the esophagus and gastrointestinal tract and chyme in the stomach) along the gastrointestinal tract. Peristaltic movement is initiated by circular smooth muscles contracting behind the chewed material to prevent it from moving back into the mouth, followed by a contraction of longitudinal smooth muscles which pushes the digested food forward.