Answer: D. The vacuole confines digestive enzymes with the engulfed particle, separating them from cytoplasmic molecules and reducing unwanted digestion.

A: confuses the vacuole’s role with the increased inner-membrane surface area of mitochondria. B: reverses compartmentalization by spreading the enzymes through the cytoplasm. C: describes a mitochondrial adaptation, not the protective effect of a phagocytic vacuole.

Remember: compartments can keep biochemical processes apart or concentrate their components.