Question

Emulsification of fat is carried out by
(a)Bile pigments
(b)Bile salts
(c)HCl
(d)Pancreatic juice

Answer 1

Hint: The conjugation of acid secreted by liver with glycine or taurine is important in digestion of lipids. This consists of cholic, chenodeoxycholic, deoxycholic and lithocholic acid.

Complete answer:
The digestion and absorption of lipids is an important function of the liver. Bile acts as a surfactant, helping to emulsify the fats in the food. Bile salts anions have a hydrophilic side and a hydrophobic side, and therefore tend to aggregate around droplets of fat formed micelles, with the hydrophobic sides towards the fat and hydrophilic towards the outside. The hydrophobic sides are positively charged due to the lecithin and other phospholipids that compose bile, and this charge prevents fat droplets coated with bile from re- aggregating into larger fat particles. The dispersion of food fat into micelles thus provides a largely increased surface area for the action of the enzyme pancreatic lipase thus aiding in the digestion of lipids.

Additional Information: -Bile is a bitter tasting, dark green to yellowish brown fluid, produced by the liver it is stored in the gallbladder and upon eating is discharged into the duodenum.
-Bile salts act as emulsifying agents in the digestion and absorption of fats. Cholesterol and bile pigments from the breakdown of hemoglobin are excreted from the body in the bile.
-The bile juice composition is:
Water
Bile salt- Cholic, chenodeoxycholic, deoxycholic and lithocholic acid.
Mucus
Pigments- Bilirubin glucuronide
Fats- Phospholipids, cholesterol
Organic salts

So, the correct answer is, ‘bile salts.’

Note: -The main components of bile are water, bile salt, bile pigments and cholesterol.
-Bile secretion stimulation is either under neural control mediated like acetylcholine or under hormonal control.
-Lack of bile salts in the enterohepatic circulation stimulates bile synthesis and secretion.