Hydrolysis of a lipid

animation of hydrolysis of a lipid

This animation shows how one molecule of lipid - triglyceride - is hydrolysed (digested) to give 1 molecule of glycerol and 3 molecules of fatty acid (stearic acid).
3 molecules of water are needed to add -H and -OH groups to break the ester bonds, an action which is catalysed by the enzyme lipase.

Contents page        Front (index) page