Digestion of Fat by Cod

The gut contents of two cod were analysed for isomeric glycerides. Ten times more α,β-diglyceride than α,α′-diglyceride was found, and five to ten times more β-monoglyceride than α-monoglyceride.A fat labelled with tritiated oleic acid in position 1 and with C-14-oleic acid in position 2 of L-glycerol was fed to two cod, and the diglycerides were then isolated from the gut content. Radioactive analyses showed them to be mixtures of the 1,2 and the 2,3 isomers.In cod, therefore, dietary fat is degraded to diglycerides and monoglycerides by a digestive lipase which preferentially attacks the α-bound fatty acid esters but is not stereospecific. This enzyme corresponds in its action to the pancreatic lipase of mammals and of skate.