Fatty acids chemical composition

Knowledge of chemical composition with respect to relevant carbohydrate, amino acid, or fatty acid chemical markers is often critical for proper interpretation of the pyrolysis of a microbial sample. Sometimes this information is already available in the literature regarding specific bacteria. More often, however, complementary analyses for that particular class of components by an independent GC, GC/MS, or spectroscopic method may be needed. 

There are physical—chemical differences between fats of the same fatty acid composition, depending on the placement of the fatty acids. For example, cocoa butter and mutton tallow share the same fatty acid composition, but fatty acid placement on the glycerin backbone yields products of very different physical properties. 

Measurement of Unsaturation. The presence of double bonds in a fatty acid side chain can be detected chemically or through use of instmmentation. Iodine value (IV) (74) is a measure of extent of the reaction of iodine with double bonds the higher the IV, the more unsaturated the oil. IV may also be calculated from fatty acid composition. The cis—trans configuration of double bonds may be deterrnined by infrared (59) or nmr spectroscopy. Naturally occurring oils have methylene-intermpted double bonds that do not absorb in the uv however, conjugated dienes maybe deterrnined in an appropriate solvent at 233 nm. 

In certain brilliantine compositions, vegetable and animal oils are used as substitutes for mineral oil. In these systems, because of their potential for rancidity, antioxidants must be included. Other alternatives to mineral oils that have found utiHty in brilliantines are the polyethylene glycols which come in a variety of solubiHties and spreading properties. Use of these materials offers the advantage of chemical stabiHty to rancidity. Other additives found in brilliantines to improve their aesthetics include colorants, fragrance, medicated additives, lanolin, and fatty acid esters. 

Acylated Protein Hydrolysates. These surfactants are prepared by acylation of proteia hydrolysates with fatty acids or acid chlorides. The hydrolysates are variable ia composition, depending on the degree of hydrolysis. CoUagen from leather (qv) processiag is a common proteia source. Acylated proteia hydrolysates (Maypoa, by laotex Chemical Company) are mild surfactants recommended for personal-care products (see Cosmetics). 

Chemical Composition. Wool wax is a complex mixture of esters of water-soluble alcohols (168) and higher fatty acids (169) with a small proportion (ca 0.5%) of hydrocarbons (170). A substantial effort has been made to identify the various components, but results are compHcated by the fact that different workers use wool waxes from different sources and employ different analytical techniques. Nevertheless, significant progress has been made, and it is possible to give approximate percentages of the various components. The wool-wax acids (Table 9) are predominantiy alkanoic, a-hydroxy, and CO-hydroxy acids. Each group contains normal, iso, and anteiso series of various chain length, and nearly all the acids are saturated. 

After the extraction of lipid and nonlipid components from the leaves of mandarin orange Citrus reticulata, the lipid fraction was further separated by PTLC to determine different lipid classes that affect the chemical deterrence of C. reticulata to the leaf cutting ecat Acromyrmex octopinosus. These lipids seem to be less attractive to the ants [81a]. The metabolism of palmitate in the peripheral nerves of normal and Trembler mice was studied, and the polar lipid fraction purified by PTLC was used to determine the fatty acid composition. It was found that the fatty acid composition of the polar fraction was abnormal, correlating with the decreased overall palmitate elongation and severely decreased synthesis of saturated long-chain fatty acids (in mutant nerves) [81b]. 

The application of 13C NMR for the rapid analysis of the oil composition of oil seeds is well known [16], 13C NMR has recently been applied to the quantitative analysis of the most abundant fatty acids in olive oil [17]. The values obtained by this method differed by only up to 5% compared with GLC analysis. The quantitative analysis was applied to the olefmic region of the high resolution 13C NMR spectrum of virgin olive oil to detect adulteration by other oils which differed significantly in their fatty acid composition. The application of the methodology for the detection of adulteration of olive oil by hazelnut oil is more challenging as both oils have similar chemical profiles and further experiments are in progress. 

The physical and chemical properties of individual oils and fats are determined by the nature and proportions of fatty acids that enter into the triglycerides composition. Animal and dairy fat like plant oils are dominated by triacylglycerols, with steroids present as minor components, cholesterol and its esters being the most significant. The triacylglycerols of animal fats differ from plant oils since they contain more of the saturated fatty acids and consequently are solid at room temperature. 

Fats and oils, constituted by acylglycerolipids, represent a major subgroup of lipids. They are the most common class of medium-size molecules produced by living organisms. They are the main constituents of the storage fat cells in plants and animals. They have quite a similar chemical composition, as they are mainly composed of triglycerides, triesters of glycerol with fatty acids (FAs). 

Wood contains a small proportion (usually less than 5%) of components which are extractable by organic solvents such as ethanol or dichloromethane. The proportion of these extractives varies in hardwoods and softwoods and also between species. Although many of these substances are removed during the chemical pulping process, some may still be retained in the final sheet of paper. Their chemical composition is very varied, and they include alkanes, fatty alcohols and acids (both saturated and unsaturated), glycerol esters, waxes, resin acids, terpene and phenolic components. The proportion which remains in pulp and paper depends upon the pulping process used. In general, acidic components such as the resin and fatty acids are relatively easily removed by alkali by conversion to their soluble... 

This example belongs to chemotaxonomy, a discipline that tries to classify and identify organisms (usually plants, but also bacteria, and even insects) by the chemical or biochemical composition (e.g., fingerprint of concentrations of terpenes, phenolic compounds, fatty acids, peptides, or pyrolysis products) (Harbome and Turner 1984 Reynolds 2007 Waterman 2007). Data evaluation in this field is often performed by multivariate techniques. 

In contrast to the other large cats, the urine of the cheetah, A. jubatus, is practically odorless to the human nose. An analysis of the organic material from cheetah urine showed that diglycerides, triglycerides, and free sterols are possibly present in the urine and that it contains some of the C2-C8 fatty acids [95], while aldehydes and ketones that are prominent in tiger and leopard urine [96] are absent from cheetah urine. A recent study [97] of the chemical composition of the urine of cheetah in their natural habitat and in captivity has shown that volatile hydrocarbons, aldehydes, saturated and unsaturated cyclic and acyclic ketones, carboxylic acids and short-chain ethers are compound classes represented in minute quantities by more than one member in the urine of this animal. Traces of 2-acetylfuran, acetaldehyde diethyl acetal, ethyl acetate, dimethyl sulfone, formanilide, and larger quantities of urea and elemental sulfur were also present in the urine of this animal. Sulfur was found in all the urine samples collected from male cheetah in captivity in South Africa and from wild cheetah in Namibia. Only one organosulfur compound, dimethyl disulfide, is present in the urine at such a low concentration that it is not detectable by humans [97]. 

A more recent analytical tabulation covering individual trace elements, amino acids, and volatile fatty acids, together with proximate analyses, ADF, MADF, NDF, cellulose, lignin, starch, water soluble carbohydrates, etc., has the title UK Tables of Nutritive Value and Chemical Composition of Feedingstuffs (MAFF, 1990). 

The chemical composition of morama milk is indicated in Table 5.11 and it is compared with soymilk and dairy milk (Mpotokwane et ah, 2007). Morama milk has 6% total solids compared with 10% for soymilk and 12% for dairy milk. The morama milk solids include protein, which is about 1.5%, fat is 3.1%, carbohydrates is 1.1%, and ash is 0.2%. It has high levels of sodium (47.9 mg/100 g) and iron (3.7 mg/100 g) compared with the other two milks but much lower calcium (6.8 mg/1000 g). The proportion of unsaturated fatty acid in morama milk is significantly higher than in soymilk and dairy milk (Jackson et al., 2009). 

---