Assertion : When tripalmitin is utilised as a respiratory substrate, the value of the Respiratory Quotient (RQ) is approximately 0.7. Reason : The complete aerobic oxidation of one molecule of tripalmitin consumes 145 molecules of O₂ and releases 102 molecules of CO₂ .

Step-by-step solution

The respiratory quotient (RQ) is the ratio of the volume of CO₂ evolved to the volume of O₂ consumed in respiration. For tripalmitin (a fat), the balanced equation for complete aerobic oxidation is: 2(C₅₁H₉₈O₆) + 145 O₂ 102 CO₂ + 98 H₂O + energy From the equation, two molecules of tripalmitin consume 145 molecules of O₂ and release 102 molecules of CO₂ . Therefore, one molecule of tripalmitin consumes 72.5 molecules of O₂ and releases 51 molecules of CO₂ . The RQ is calculated as: RQ = 102 CO₂ 145 O₂ 0.7 Thus, the