Question

What is the breakdown product of haemoglobin?
(a)Bilirubin
(b)Iron
(c)Biliverdin
(d)Calcium

Answer 1

Hint: The material in your blood is yellowish. It develops after the breakdown of red blood cells, and it passes before being excreted through your liver, gallbladder, and digestive tract. Its amounts usually fall anywhere between 0.3 and 1.2 milligrammes (mg / dL) per deciliter.

Complete answer:
Red blood cell haemoglobin molecules are broken down into two subunits, heme (the part containing iron) and globin. In addition, the heme breaks down into iron and biliverdin, a green pigment. Biliverdin is then transformed to bilirubin, an orange pigment. Bilirubin is thus an end product of heme-containing proteins for degradation. Around 80% of bilirubin is produced in the reticuloendothelial system (RES) by the degradation of erythrocyte haemoglobin.

Additional Information: The iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells of almost all vertebrates, as well as the tissues of some invertebrates, is haemoglobin or haemoglobin + -o-+ globulin, abbreviated as Hb or Hgb. Haemoglobin in the blood transfers oxygen to the rest of the body from the lungs or gills.
The haemoglobin is degraded or broken into globin, the protein component, iron (preserved for later use), and heme (see middle graphic) as the red blood cells disintegrate. Initially, the heme splits into biliverdin, an orange-yellow pigment that is quickly reduced to bilirubin, a green pigment (see bottom graphic).
Calcium is present in abundance in dairy products. So it is the end product of casein breakdown. It is present and preserved in bones.
So, the correct answer is ‘bilirubin’.

Note: Bilirubin, a brownish-yellow bile pigment secreted by the liver in vertebrates, which gives its characteristic colour to solid waste products (faeces). It is made as the end result of red-blood-cell (haemoglobin) breakdown in bone marrow cells and in the liver.