Question

State the role of pancreatic juice in digestion of proteins.

Answer 1

Hint: Pancreas is a mixed gland because it contains both exocrine as well as endocrine parts. It is situated between the limbs of “U” shaped duodenum. Its endocrine part secretes the hormones while the exocrine part secretes the pancreatic juice which contains enzymes and $NaHC{O_3}$. The juice is alkaline with a pH of about $7.8 - 8.3$.

Complete step-by-step answer:
The role of pancreatic juice in digestion of proteins is as follows:
The pancreatic juice is secreted by the gland named pancreas and it contains various enzymes, trypsinogen, procarboxypeptidase, amylase, lipases, etc. It also contains $NaHC{O_3}$. The pancreatic juice is released through the pancreatic duct.
These enzymes act on the proteins, proteoses, and peptones. These are the partially hydrolysed proteins in chyme that reaches the intestine where they are acted upon by the pancreatic juice. The end product is formed as follows-
$Proteins,Peptones,Proteases\xrightarrow[{carboxypeptidases}]{{trypsin /{{chymotrypsin}}}}Dipeptides$
Thus, the action of pancreatic juice on proteins leads to the formation of dipeptides.
In addition to pancreatic juice, the bile juice is also released by the liver which contains bilirubin and biliverdin, bile salts, but no enzymes. Also, there is intestinal juice that contains a variety of enzymes like disaccharides, lipases, nucleosidases, etc.

Note: Pancreas is the most important accessory gland of the digestive system. The pancreatic juice acts upon the partially hydrolysed proteins and results in the formation of end products which are then used up by the body by the process of assimilation. The pancreatic juice is carried to the duodenum with the help of a pancreatic duct.