Glycerides, also known as acylglycerols, are esters formed from glycerol and fatty acids, and are generally very hydrophobic.
Glycerol has three hydroxyl functional groups, which can be esterified with one, two, or three fatty acids to form mono-, di-, and triglycerides. These structures vary in their fatty acid alkyl groups as they can contain different carbon numbers, different degrees of unsaturation, and different configurations and positions of olefins.
Glycerol (/ˈɡlɪsərɒl/) is a sugar alcohol with chemical formula C3H5(OH)3. It has three carbon atoms and as many hydroxyl groups. It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid at Standard Ambient Temperature and Pressure (SATP). Because of its three hydroxyl groups, glycerol is miscible with water and is hygroscopic in nature.
The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides, where one or more of the hydroxyl groups are esterified with fatty acids. The most abundant of glycerides are triglycerides (found in animal fats and vegetable oils), it is where glycerol is most commonly found in nature. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pharmaceutical formulations.
A triglyceride (from tri- and glyceride; also TG, triacylglycerol, TAG, or triacylglyceride) is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids.Triglycerides are the main constituents of body fat in humans and other vertebrates as well as vegetable fat.They are also present in the blood to enable the bidirectional transference of adipose fat and blood glucose from the liver and are a major component of human skin oils.
Many types of triglycerides exist. One specific classification focuses on saturated and unsaturated types. Saturated fats have no C=C groups; unsaturated fats feature one or more C=C groups. Unsaturated fats tend to have a lower melting point than saturated analogues; as a result, they are often liquid at room temperature.
A saturated fat is a type of fat: a glyceride in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds between the carbon atoms (i.e. an alkane). Glyceride fats with single bonds are called saturated because they are "saturated with" hydrogen atoms, having no double bonds available to react with more hydrogen.
Saturated fats are generally solid at room temperature. All fats, both saturated and unsaturated, contain 9kcal per gram, making them more energy dense than both proteins and carbohydrates.
Glycerol (/ˈɡlɪsərɒl/) is an organic compound with chemical formula C3H5(OH)3. It has a three-carbon backbone and is a simple triol compound (an alcohol with three hydroxyl groups). It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. Because of its three hydroxyl groups, glycerol is miscible with water and is hygroscopic in nature.
The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides, where one or more of the hydroxyl groups are esterified with fatty acids. The most abundant of glycerides are triglycerides (found in animal fats and vegetable oils), it is where glycerol is most commonly found in nature. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pharmaceutical formulations.
Monoglycerides (also: acylglycerols or monoacylglycerols) are a class of glycerides which are composed of a molecule of glycerol linked to a fatty acid via an ester bond. As glycerol contains both primary and secondary alcohol groups two different types of monoglycerides may be formed; 1-monoacylglycerols where the fatty acid is attached to a primary alcohol, or a 2-monoacylglycerols where the fatty acid is attached to the secondary alcohol.
A diglyceride, or diacylglycerol (DAG), is a glyceride consisting of two fatty acid chains covalently bonded to a glycerol molecule through ester linkages. Two possible forms exist, 1,2-diacylglycerols and 1,3-diacylglycerols. Diglycerides are natural components of food fats, though minor in comparison to triglycerides. DAGs can act as surfactants and are commonly used as emulsifiers in processed foods. DAG-enriched oil (particularly 1,3-DAG) has been investigated extensively as a fat substitute due to its ability to suppress the accumulation of body fat; with total annual sales of approximately USD 200 million in Japan since its introduction in the late 1990s till 2009.