Question

Name the bile pigments.

Answer 1

Bile pigments are biological pigments which are formed in organisms as a metabolic product of certain porphyrins. One of the bile pigments is that which is secreted mainly in the urine and bile and is responsible for providing yellow color to bruises.

Complete step by step answer:
The two most important bile pigments are-
-Bilirubin- It is an orange or yellow compound from Biliverdin by the enzyme Biliverdin Reductase after the destruction of hemoglobin. It is secreted mainly in the urine and bile and is responsible for providing yellow color to bruises. It is further changed to stercobilin and urobilin which gives yellowish color to the feces and urine respectively.
-Biliverdin- It is an oxidized form of bilirubin, which is green in color. Biliverdin is the result of the destruction of the heme of hemoglobin group in red blood cells.Macrophages break down adult red blood cells and break down heme into biliverdin and hemosiderin. After which biliverdin gets rapidly reduced into free bilirubin.

Additional information:
Bile Is a digestive juice secreted by the liver and it consists of water, cholesterol, bile acids, calcium, phospholipids, and bile pigments. The bile pigments are formed due to the decomposition of the porphyrin ring in the liver and it contains a chain of four pyrrole rings. Bile pigments can range in color from red, orange, yellow, or brown to blue or green. For example, bilirubin, the brownish-yellow pigment, is the end product of the breakdown of heme formed from the destroyed red blood cells.

Note:
-Bile pigments are also called Bilins or Bilanes.
-The main site for the formation of bile pigments is in the liver.
-The test used for detection of bile pigment is- Gmelin's test.
-Bile pigments can also be found in lower vertebrates, invertebrates, as well as red algae, green plants, and cyanobacteria.
-An increase in the bilirubin level can lead to jaundice.