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Bile salts
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Bile salts are the bile acids in bile after the liver attaches an amino acid to them, either glycine or taurine. They make up most of what bile carries in solution.
Their trick is in their shape: every molecule is amphipathic, meaning it has one side that gets along with fat and another that gets along with water. That lets it sit at the border between the two and break the fat into droplets, which is what emulsifying means. It is the detergent that breaks the oil drop in the pan into droplets the water can finally reach. With the fat spread out, lipase, the enzyme that cuts it, has far more surface to work on.
They do not float around waiting. They are stored in concentrated form in the gallbladder, and when you eat, a hormone called cholecystokinin is released and squeezes the gallbladder, sending them into the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine.
And digesting fat is not the only thing they do: they also carry cholesterol out of the body, and they have an antimicrobial effect.
In brief
Bile salts are bile acids that the liver conjugates with glycine or taurine, and they make up most of bile's organic compounds.
They are amphipathic: one side faces fat, the other water, and emulsifying lipids gives lipase more surface area.
The detergent that breaks the oil drop in the pan into droplets the water can finally reach.
They concentrate in the gallbladder; when you eat, cholecystokinin contracts it and releases them into the duodenum.
They also help excrete cholesterol and have an antimicrobial effect.
Sources (2)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Bile Acids, StatPearlsPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Bile, StatPearlsPublished
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