Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
A variety of chemical and physical techniques are used for the production and processing of fats, both industrially and in cottage or home settings. They include: Pressing to extract liquid fats from fruits, seeds, or algae, e.g. olive oil from olives; Solvent extraction using solvents like hexane or supercritical carbon dioxide
Animal fats are lipids derived from animals which are used by the animal for a multitude of functions, or can be used by humans for dietary, sanitary, and cosmetic purposes. Depending on the temperature of the fat, it can change between a solid state and a liquid state. Chemically, both fats and oils are composed of triglycerides.
The chemical analysis of fatty acids in lipids typically begins with an interesterification step that breaks down their original esters (triglycerides, waxes, phospholipids etc.) and converts them to methyl esters, which are then separated by gas chromatography [41] or analyzed by gas chromatography and mid-infrared spectroscopy.
A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds between the carbon atoms. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone and fatty acids that each contain a long linear or branched chain of carbon (C) atoms.
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.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids are precursors to and are derived from polyunsaturated fats, which include drying oils. [3] Chemical structure of the polyunsaturated fatty acid linoleic acid 3D representation of linoleic acid in a bent conformation Chemical structure of α-linolenic acid (ALA), an essential omega−3 fatty acid
This in turn plays an important role in the structure and function of cell membranes. [25]: 193–5 Most naturally occurring fatty acids are of the cis configuration, although the trans form does exist in some natural and partially hydrogenated fats and oils. [26]
Vegetable oils and animal fats contain mostly triglycerides, but are broken down by natural enzymes into mono and diglycerides and free fatty acids and glycerol. Soaps are formed from the reaction of glycerides with sodium hydroxide. The product of the reaction is glycerol and salts of fatty acids.