alleryStart learning →Which component makes pancreatic juice slightly alkaline?
ABile salts from the liver
BTrypsinogen from the acini
CSodium bicarbonate in the juice
DLecithin from the gallbladder
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. Sodium bicarbonate in the juice
1. Pancreatic juice is mostly water with some salts, sodium bicarbonate and several digestive enzymes.
2. Sodium bicarbonate is what makes the juice slightly alkaline, at a pH of 7.1 to 8.2.
3. That alkalinity buffers acidic gastric juice, inactivates pepsin and suits the intestinal enzymes.
4. Trypsinogen is an inactive protein-digesting enzyme and contributes nothing to pH.
5. Bile salts and lecithin belong to bile, which is a separate secretion from the liver.
_Source: OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology (CC BY 4.0), Ch 23 "The Digestive System", section 23.6 Accessory Organs in Digestion: The Liver, Pancreas, and Gallbladder_
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