Triglyceride classes

Parodi, P. W. 1982. Positional distribution of fatty acids in the triglyceride classes of milk fat. J. Dairy Res. 49, 73-80. 

TABLE 34.11 Triglyceride Classes of Native and Interesterified Oils and Fats and of Noninteresterified and Interesterified Blends (1 1) of Fully Hydrogenated Soybean Oil with Vegetable Oils ... 

The separation of some typical hpids into compound classes is schematically portrayed in Fig. 129. As expected, the separation of different compound types on layers follows the rules drawn up by Bbockmann and Volpbes hydrocarbons are not adsorbed, esters but feebly aldehydes precede alcohols and acids short-chain compounds are more strongly adsorbed than long-chain, unsaturated then saturated. (seep.201) The,example in Fig. 129 shows the extent of subfractionation within the triglyceride class. 

Fats and oils are one of the oldest classes of chemical compounds used by humans. Animal fats were prized for edibiUty, candles, lamp oils, and conversion to soap. Fats and oils are composed primarily of triglycerides (1), esters of glycerol and fatty acids. However, some oils such as sperm whale (1), jojoba (2), and orange roughy (3) are largely composed of wax esters (2). Waxes (qv) are esters of fatty acids with long-chain aUphatic alcohols, sterols, tocopherols, or similar materials. 

Chemical Composition. From the point of view of leathermaking, hides consist of four broad classes of proteins coUagen, elastin, albumen, and keratin (3). The fats are triglycerides and mixed esters. The hides as received in a taimery contain water and a curing agent. Salt-cured cattie hides contain 40—50% water and 10—20% ordinary salt, NaCl. Surface dirt is usuaUy about 2—5 wt %. Cattie hides have 5—15% fats depending on the breed and source. The balance of the hide is protein (1). 

Although soaps have many physical properties in common with the broader class of surfactants, they also have several distinguishing factors. First, soaps are most often derived direcdy from natural sources of fats and oils (see Fats and fatty oils). Fats and oils are triglycerides, ie, molecules comprised of a glycerol backbone and three ester-linked fatty oils. Other synthetic surfactants may use fats and oils or petrochemicals as initial building blocks, but generally require additional chemical manipulations such as sulfonation, esterification, sulfation, and amidation. 

Anionic surfactants are the most commonly used class of surfactant. Anionic surfactants include sulfates such as sodium alkylsulfate and the homologous ethoxylated versions and sulfonates, eg, sodium alkylglycerol ether sulfonate and sodium cocoyl isethionate. Nonionic surfactants are commonly used at low levels ( 1 2%) to reduce soap scum formation of the product, especially in hard water. These nonionic surfactants are usually ethoxylated fatty materials, such as H0CH2CH20(CH2CH20) R. These are commonly based on triglycerides or fatty alcohols. Amphoteric surfactants, such as cocamidopropyl betaine and cocoamphoacetate, are more recent surfactants in the bar soap area and are typically used at low levels (<2%) as secondary surfactants. These materials can have a dramatic impact on both the lathering and mildness of products (26). 

Lipid-lowering diugs are diugs that affect the lipoprotein metabolism and that used in therapy to lower plasma lipids (cholesterol, triglycerides). The main classes of... 

Lipoprotein fraction containing triglycerides and to a lesser degree cholesterol. VLDL is produced by the liver. The main structural protein connected to this lipoprotein class is apolipoprotein B. 

Experiments with monkeys given intramuscular injections of a mineral oil emulsion with [l-14C] -hexa-decane tracer provide data illustrating that absorbed C-16 hydrocarbon (a major component of liquid petrolatum) is slowly metabolized to various classes of lipids (Bollinger 1970). Two days after injection, substantial portions of the radioactivity recovered in liver (30%), fat (42%), kidney (74%), spleen (81%), and ovary (90%) were unmetabolized -hexadecane. The remainder of the radioactivity was found as phospholipids, free fatty acids, triglycerides, and sterol esters. Essentially no radioactivity was found in the water-soluble or residue fractions. One or three months after injection, radioactivity still was detected only in the fat-soluble fractions of the various organs, but 80-98% of the detected radioactivity was found in non-hydrocarbon lipids. 

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). 

Lipids encompass a wide class of amphiphilic molecules which, along with proteins, form the biological membranes necessary to support cellular function. While the simplest lipids, fatty acids and triglycerides, are not... 

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]. 

The stratum corneum consists of separated, nonviable, cornified, almost nonpermeable corneocytes embedded into a continuous lipid bilayer made of various classes of lipids, for example, ceramides, cholesterol, cholesterol esters, free fatty acids, and triglycerides [6], Structurally, this epidermis layer is best described by the so-called brick-and-mortar model [7], The stratum corneum is crucial for the barrier function of the skin, controlling percutaneous absorption of dermally applied substances and regulating fluid homeostasis. The thickness of the stratum corneum is usually 10-25 /an, with exceptions at the soles of the feet and the palms, and swells several-fold when hydrated. All components of the stratum corneum originate from the basal layer of the epidermis, the stratum germinativum. 

Fatty acids are key constituents of several structural classes of lipids triglycerides, glycerophospholipids, and glycolipids. 

Lipoproteins are an important class of serum proteins in which a spherical hydrophobic core of triglycerides or cholesterol esters is surrounded by an amphipathic monolayer of phospholipids, cholesterol and apolipoproteins (fatbinding proteins). Lipoproteins transport lipid in the circulation and vary in size and density, depending on their proteindipid ratio (Figure 7.3). Lipoprotein metabolism is adversely affected by obesity low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and plasma triglyceride are increased, together with decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol concentrations. 

Lipases (EC 3.1.1.3) are ubiquitous enzymes belonging to the esterase class of hydrolases (see earlier section) and are found in most hving organisms. In nature, lipases catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of triglycerides into fatty acids and glycerol, or into fatty acid and mono- or diglyceride, at a water-oil interface (Scheme 6.4). 

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