<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (October 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Bile or gall is a dark green to yellowish brown fluid, produced by the liver of most vertebrates, that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine . In humans, bile is produced continuously by the liver (liver bile), and stored and concentrated in the gallbladder . After eating, this stored bile is discharged into the duodenum . The composition of gallbladder bile is 97% water, 0.7% bile salts, 0.2% bilirubin, 0.51% fats (cholesterol, fatty acids, and lecithin), and 200 meq / l inorganic salts . </P> <P> Bile was the yellow bile in the four humor system of medicine, the standard of medical practice in Europe from around 500 BCE to the early 19th century . About 400 to 800 ml of bile is produced per day in adult human beings . </P> <P> Bile or gall acts to some extent as a surfactant, helping to emulsify the lipids in food . Bile salt anions are hydrophilic on one side and hydrophobic on the other side; consequently, they tend to aggregate around droplets of lipids (triglycerides and phospholipids) to form micelles, with the hydrophobic sides towards the fat and hydrophilic sides facing outwards . The hydrophilic sides are negatively charged, and this charge prevents fat droplets coated with bile from re-aggregating into larger fat particles . Ordinarily, the micelles in the duodenum have a diameter around 14--33 μm . </P>

Where is bile produced and what functions does it perform