Question

Assertion : Bile salts of bile help in the emulsification of fats.
Reason : Bile salts can break large fat droplets into smaller ones.
A. If both assertion and reason are true and reason is the correct explanation of assertion
B. If both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of assertion.
C. If the assertion is true but reason is false.
D. If both assertion and reason are false.

Answer 1

Hint:- The main organic portion of bile is bile salts (bile acids). To secrete bile salts, the liver utilises active transport. Bile salts in the duodenum have the purpose of solubilizing the fat and fat soluble vitamins absorbed, promoting their digestion and absorption. From the liver, bile flows into the right or left hepatic duct from the intrahepatic collection system, then into the common hepatic duct.

Complete Answer:-
Emulsification is the small breakdown of large fat molecules, supplying the pancreatic lipase with a greater surface area to digest fats into fatty acids and glycerol. The bile salts found in the bile(secreted by the liver) are responsible for emulsifying fats in the lumen of the intestine, decreasing the surface tension of fat droplets, allowing several smaller ones to break down. A stable fat emulsion is thus produced.
Therefore, the right choice is A.

Additional information:-
In the so-called enterohepatic circulation, bile salts are efficiently recycled through the portal system back to the liver. In the terminal ileum, the final portion of the small intestine, bile salts are absorbed to a significant degree (> 95% per cycle). In the body, the total volume of bile salts is balanced and preserved in a tight, steady state. The faecal loss of bile salts is fully substituted under steady-state conditions by de novo bile salt synthesis of primary bile salts in the liver. Cholate and chenodeoxycholate are the major bile salts in humans, i.e., synthesised de novo from cholesterol in the liver. Through de bile, the primary bile salts are excreted into the intestine. The bile salts in the intestinal lumen can be metabolised by the gut flora. Bacteria are capable of deconjugating and converting bile salts into a number of separate, so-called secondary bile salts.

Note:- Bile salts vary in their solubility in water and their equilibrium between hydrophobic and hydrophilic. Hydrophobic bile salts have a high potential for fat and lipid solubilization. As a consequence, it is also possible for hydrophobic bile salts to solubilize the lipid structures of cell membranes.