University Assignment: Detailed Analysis of Lipid Digestion Experiment

The assignment analyzes a lipid digestion experiment examining the roles of lipase and bile salts in the breakdown of lipids. The experiment involved testing different tubes containing lipid cream, water, and various digestive enzymes. The results showed that water and bile salts alone do not digest lipids, while lipase is essential for the process. The presence of bile salts enhances the action of lipase by emulsifying lipids, increasing the surface area for enzyme activity. The color changes observed in the tubes indicated the digestion of lipids, highlighting the importance of lipase and bile salts in breaking down fats into fatty acids. The assignment also references relevant literature, including a study on lipid digestion and micelle formation, as well as a video on the experiment.

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1HEALTH CARE
Answer 4:
In the lipid digestion experiment as shown by Jahn (2018), several substances were tested in
different tubes to find out if they can digest lipids or not. In the first tube, lipid cream with pH
indicator, water and bile salt was added. Lipid cream with pH indicator was added to all the three
tubes and other substances added varied. For example, in the second tube, lipase was added from
a pancreatic extract, in the third tube lipase enzyme and bile salt and in tubes four, amylase
enzyme was added. If the lipid fat will be digested, then it breaks down into fatty acids which
will automatically alter the Ph of the solution and the color of the liquid in each tube will change.
The following changes were noted in each tube after some time:
1. In the first tube, no color change occurred indicating that water and bile salts cannot
digest lipids. It needs lipase to break down lipids into fatty acids.
2. In the second tube, the color of the liquid has changed from pink to yellow indicating
digestion of lipid. However, as it lacked bile salts, lack of emulsification has reduced the
pace of the chemical reaction. Thus, the color change is not intense.
3. Similar to second tube, color change has been found in this tube too, however the color is
much more intense compared to tube 2. The main difference between the two tubes was
that tube 3 contained bile salts in addition to lipase. This color change indicated that bile
salts can function better with bile salts. As bile salts are alkaline, it helps lipase in
catalyzing its reaction and it emulsifies lipids by breaking large droplets into smaller
droplets. Thus, it increases the surface area for activity of pancreatic lipase enzymes.
4. In the fourth tube also, no change in color was seen. Although the tube contained an
enzyme called amylase, however no change in color suggested that amylase can react too
some other substance than lipid.

2HEALTH CARE
The chemical reaction related to digestion of lipids occurs by the action of lipase enzymes.
Lipase plays a role in hydrolyzing the glycerol fatty acid bonds, whereas the bile emulsify the
fats to forms micelles and increase the surface area so that lipase can operate. Lipase is an
enzyme mostly found in the mouth, stomach and pancreas. Bile salt is secreted by the liver and
they play a role in dispersing the fats into micelles (Salvia-Trujillo et al., 2017). The figure 1
below shows how lipase and bile salts work to promote digestion of lipids.
Figure 1: The process of digestion of lipids. Source: (Salvia-Trujillo et al., 2017)

3HEALTH CARE
References:
Salvia-Trujillo, L., Verkempinck, S. H. E., Sun, L., Van Loey, A. M., Grauwet, T., & Hendrickx,
M. E. (2017). Lipid digestion, micelle formation and carotenoid bioaccessibility kinetics:
Influence of emulsion droplet size. Food chemistry, 229, 653-662.
Jahn, W. (2018). Lipid digestion experiment. Retrieved 1 March 2020, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVgSm0lWmRw