The liver makes bile continuously. A small sac beneath it—the gallbladder—stores and concentrates that bile between meals. Follow the ducts to see how a meal changes its route and how bile helps both digestion and waste removal.
Why make bile in one organ and store it in another?
The large reddish-brown organ is the liver. The green sac underneath is the gallbladder; gold-green ducts connect it to the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine. Green-gold flow markers represent bile, not blood. Open the view to follow the ducts through the liver.
Anatomical view
Drag to orbit · scroll to zoom · click to identify
Loading anatomical surfaces…
Arrows rotate · Home resets view
Inspect a structure
Click the model or choose a name below to read its function.
BileGallbladderFat droplets
Emulsification is not chemical digestion
Bile salts stabilise small fat droplets and help form micelles. They are not enzymes that cut triglyceride molecules apart. Lipase performs that chemical breakdown; bile helps it work at the fat–water interface.
Which waste takes the bile route?
Bilirubin forms during haem breakdown; the liver processes it for excretion in bile. Some excess cholesterol also leaves through bile. Do not confuse this with all detoxification: ammonia is converted to urea in the liver, and urea is mainly excreted by the kidneys.
Check your understanding · Does the gallbladder make bile?
No. Liver cells make it. The gallbladder stores, concentrates and releases it.