Question

Lacteals absorb fat in which form ?
A. Triglycerides
B. Fatty acids
C. Glycerol
D. Monoglycerides

Answer 1

Hint: Let us see what lacteal is. Lacteals are the lymph capillaries which absorb fats and lipids and are found in the small intestine. The food we take contains proteins, carbohydrates,fats and other nutrients. All the nutrients are absorbed by blood capillaries except fats. Hence lacteals are specially present for this purpose and are having a larger diameter than a capillary.

Complete answer:
We have got an idea of lacteal, let us know the mechanism taking place inside. The food we intake will no doubt contain fats and these are not water soluble and also in the stomach fats get separated from the other substances and now lacteals help them in further digestion of lipids which are nothing but fats. In the small intestine, bile juice is released which helps in breakdown of lipids i.e. triglycerides are broken down into monoglycerides, fatty acids and glycerol. All these products combine with bile acids and form small micelles which further move to the villi present in the small intestine and later the lipids get diffused into mucosal cells. All the fatty acids and monoglycerides are reconverted into triglycerides in the mucosal cells and form chylomicrons and enter the lymphatic vessel. In the last step before entering lymph vessels,as the fatty acids are converted into triglycerides, fats are absorbed in that form itself.

So the correct option is A. This is how absorption of fats takes place.

Note:
Lacteals are mainly present to absorb the substances which are too large to be absorbed by capillaries. In addition to this, lacteals also collect different proteins and electrolytes from their surroundings. The diameter of lacteal is larger than any other capillaries due to this reason. The combination of lymph and chylomicrons gives a milky appearance called a chyle.