Presence of a lipolytic factor in the gastric juice of calves

In experiments performed on 5 calves the lipolytic activity of pure gastric juice obtained from the abomassum was investigated during the first 2 weeks of life. It was found that the gastric juice of suckling calves possesses the ability of releasing free fatty acids from all triglycerides present in the milk. The highest activity was observed, however, using monoglyceride--Tween 80 as a substrate. The optimum pH for the lipolytic reaction approached 3.0.