What name is given to the chemicals produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder, which emulsify fats to fat droplets?

What name is given to the chemicals produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder, which emulsify fats to fat droplets?

• A. Digestive enzymes
• B. Hormones
• C. Bile pigments
• D. Bile salts

Answer: (D)

Think about what does the actual work of breaking down fats into smaller, more manageable pieces in the intestine. That job is done by molecules that act like detergents, surrounding fat droplets so they become tiny and easy to attack by enzymes. These detergents are bile salts. They’re produced in the liver from cholesterol and are stored in the gallbladder. When fat enters the small intestine, bile is released and the bile salts position themselves at the fat-water interface with their hydrophobic parts toward the fat and their hydrophilic parts toward the water, effectively breaking large fat globs into many smaller droplets. This emulsification massively increases the surface area for pancreatic lipase to digest fats. Bile salts are also amphipathic, helping form micelles that shuttle fatty acids and other fat digestion products to the lining of the intestine for absorption. The other options refer to things that don’t perform this emulsification role: digestive enzymes are proteins that break bonds but aren’t responsible for emulsifying fats; hormones are signaling molecules; bile pigments are waste products from pigment breakdown.

Think about what does the actual work of breaking down fats into smaller, more manageable pieces in the intestine. That job is done by molecules that act like detergents, surrounding fat droplets so they become tiny and easy to attack by enzymes. These detergents are bile salts. They’re produced in the liver from cholesterol and are stored in the gallbladder. When fat enters the small intestine, bile is released and the bile salts position themselves at the fat-water interface with their hydrophobic parts toward the fat and their hydrophilic parts toward the water, effectively breaking large fat globs into many smaller droplets. This emulsification massively increases the surface area for pancreatic lipase to digest fats.

Bile salts are also amphipathic, helping form micelles that shuttle fatty acids and other fat digestion products to the lining of the intestine for absorption. The other options refer to things that don’t perform this emulsification role: digestive enzymes are proteins that break bonds but aren’t responsible for emulsifying fats; hormones are signaling molecules; bile pigments are waste products from pigment breakdown.