Question
Define RQ. What is its value for fats?

Answer

The ratio of the volume of CO2 evolved to the volume of O2 consumed in respiration is called the respiratory quotient (RQ) or respiratory ratio.

$\text{RQ }\frac{\text{volume of CO}_2\text{ evolved}}{\text{volume of O}_2\text{ consumed}}$

The value of respiratory quotient depends on the type of respiratory substrate. Its value is one for carbohydrates. However, it is always less than one for fats as fats consume more oxygen for respiration than carbohydrates.

For example, RQ value for tripalmitin is 0.7 which consumes 145 molecules of Ofor respiration while 102 molecules of CO2 are evolved.

RQ of fats:

$2(\text{C}_{51}\text{H}_{98}\text{O}_6)+145\text{O}_2\xrightarrow{\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ }102\text{CO}_2+98\text{H}_2\text{O}+\text{energy}$

$\text{RQ of Fat}=\frac{102\text{CO}_2}{145\text{O}_2}=0.7$

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