Lipase is the enzyme responsible for the digestion of fats. It is secreted primarily by the pancreas, and it plays a crucial role in breaking down dietary fats into fatty acids and glycerol. The process begins in the stomach, where gastric lipase initiates fat digestion, but it is in the small intestine that lipase truly shines. Here, bile salts emulsify fats, allowing pancreatic lipase to access and hydrolyze triglycerides into free fatty acids and monoglycerides.