Our body digests fat by hydrolysis with both enzyme lipase and surfactant bile acids. We focus on the nature of water as a key reactant. In general, oil does not mix with water. However, a natural alkaline water having very small clusters can mix with triglyceride well and also forms an emulsified interfacial phase. This state enhances hydrolysis of triglyceride. Significant increase in reaction rate occurred with lipase alone and without the presence of bile acids as followed by infrared spectroscopy. In contrast, regular water with typically larger cluster size did not mix well with triglyceride and could not offer the enhancement. The surface tension is much lower than that for regular water and interestingly it is close to that for oily triglyceride. Reasons for the enhancement are explained along with eliminated anomalies. It is believed that the effect at least in part is due to the smallness of water which increases reaction probability. These results are encouraging for people with insufficient secretion of bile acids that prevents them from eating fat due to liver or gallbladder problems as well as for providing new means to enhance fat digestion. Our results suggest that the physical characteristics of water can positively influence the digestive process. Research focused on water properties in human body reactions is rare and to our knowledge none for the reaction studied here. This kind of research is expected to create new directions in physiological science and related fields in medicinal sciences when we consider the numerous important chemical reactions in human body that involves water.

Small clustered water for effective hydrolysis of triglyceride

248th National Meeting (2014)

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