Bile helps in the digestion of fat because it
- A. contains the enzyme lipase
- B. converts fatty acids into glycerol
- C. makes the duodenum acidic
- D. emulsifies fat into tiny droplets, greatly increasing the surface area for lipase
Explanation
Bile salts are detergents that break large fat globules into a suspension of tiny droplets, and since lipase can only act at the surface of a droplet this multiplies the area available and speeds digestion enormously. Bile contains no enzyme of its own, which is the point students most often get wrong. It is also alkaline, so it neutralises the acid chyme arriving from the stomach.
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