What is the pH inside the stomach? Why is there a need to keep that pH level? How is it maintained? Which are the cells that produce that pH?
The normal pH of the gastric juice is around 2. So it is an acid pH. It is necessary for the gastric pH to be kept acid for the activation of pepsinogen (a proenzyme secreted by the gastric chief cells) into pepsin, the digestive enzyme that acts only under low pH. This pH level is attained by the secretion of hydrochloric acid (HCl) by the parietal cells.
