Question 5

How are fats digested in our bodies? Where does this process take place?

Answer

Fats are the triglycerides and they are digested through the lipases. Digestion process starts in stomach and finally gets completed in the small intestine through various agents, juices etc. small intestine is the place where the fats digestion takes place, and the digestion of fats gives the fatty acids and the glycerol as their end products.

Small intestine:- In this food is in the form of fat digested by the three secretions; Bile, pancreatic juice and the intestinal juice.

  1. Bile:- bile is secreted by the liver, has no enzymes and no catalytic reactions. Salts are present which reduces the surface tension of the large fat droplets and they break them into the smaller ones and this process is known as emulsification. It produces a fine emulsion of fats in the intestine. Triglycerides get converted into the emulsified triglycerides by the action of the Bile salts.



   Triglycerides      ---Bile salts    Emulsified Triglycerides

  1. Pancreatic juice:- it contains fat- digesting enzymes which hydrolysis fats. It converts triglycerides into the diglycerides, then the diglycerides broken down into the monoglyceride and the fatty acids and they finally get converted into the another 3 fatty acid molecules and the glycerol.

    Triglycerides          ---Lipase          Fatty Acid        +      Diglycerides
    Diglycerides           ---Lipase
              Fatty Acid        +      Monoglyceride
    Monoglyceride       ---Lipase
              Fatty Acid        +      Glycerol

  2. Intestinal juice:- intestinal glands secrete the intestinal juice or intestinal lipase. Only a small amount of enzymes are released into the intestinal juice. This intestinal lipase helps in the hydrolysis of the absorbed Triglycerides, Diglycerides to monoglycerides and fatty acids.

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