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Lipid metabolism is the synthesis and degradation of lipids in cells, involving the breakdown and storage of fats for energy and the synthesis of structural and functional lipids, such as those involved in the construction of cell membranes. In animals, these fats are obtained from food and are synthesized by the liver. [1]
Lipids (oleaginous) are chiefly fatty acid esters, and are the basic building blocks of biological membranes. Another biological role is energy storage (e.g., triglycerides). Most lipids consist of a polar or hydrophilic head (typically glycerol) and one to three non polar or hydrophobic fatty acid tails, and therefore they are amphiphilic.
Metabolism (/ m ə ˈ t æ b ə l ɪ z ə m /, from Greek: μεταβολή metabolē, "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms.The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the conversion of food to building blocks of proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and some carbohydrates; and the ...
Fat has a food energy content of 38 kilojoules per gram (9 kilocalories per gram) proteins and carbohydrates 17 kJ/g (4 kcal/g). [2] Water makes up a large proportion of the total mass ingested as part of a normal diet but it does not provide any nutritional value.
Fatty acids that are required for good health but cannot be made in sufficient quantity from other substrates, and therefore must be obtained from food, are called essential fatty acids. There are two series of essential fatty acids: one has a double bond three carbon atoms away from the methyl end; the other has a double bond six carbon atoms ...
Anabolism (/ ə ˈ n æ b ə l ɪ z ə m /) is the set of metabolic pathways that construct macromolecules like DNA or RNA from smaller units. [1] [2] These reactions require energy, known also as an endergonic process. [3] Anabolism is the building-up aspect of metabolism, whereas catabolism is the breaking-down aspect. Anabolism is usually ...
Phytochemistry is the study of phytochemicals, which are chemicals derived from plants.Phytochemists strive to describe the structures of the large number of secondary metabolites found in plants, the functions of these compounds in human and plant biology, and the biosynthesis of these compounds.
Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in animal fats and oils. [3] [4]Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells [citation needed] and is an essential structural and signaling component of animal cell membranes.