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Many cell types can use either glucose or fatty acids for this purpose, but fatty acids release more energy per gram. Fatty acids (provided either by ingestion or by drawing on triglycerides stored in fatty tissues) are distributed to cells to serve as a fuel for muscular contraction and general metabolism.
Neutral fats, also known as true fats, are simple lipids that are produced by the dehydration synthesis of one or more fatty acids with an alcohol like glycerol. Neutral fats are also known as triacylglycerols, [ 1 ] these lipids are dense as well as hydrophobic due to their long carbon chain and are there main function is to store energy.
For the most part, fatty acids are oxidized by a mechanism that is similar to, but not identical with, a reversal of the process of fatty acid synthesis. That is, two-carbon fragments are removed sequentially from the carboxyl end of the acid after steps of dehydrogenation, hydration, and oxidation to form a beta-keto acid, which is split by ...
Cellular wastes include lactic acid, acetic acid, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and urea. The formation of these wastes is usually an oxidation process involving a release of chemical free energy, some of which is lost as heat, but the rest of which is used to drive the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This molecule acts as a way for the ...
Tetradecanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 12 COOH C14:0 Pentadecylic acid: Pentadecanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 13 COOH C15:0 Palmitic acid: Hexadecanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 14 COOH C16:0 Margaric acid: Heptadecanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 15 COOH C17:0 Stearic acid: Octadecanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 16 COOH C18:0 Nonadecylic acid: Nonadecanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 17 COOH C19 ...
Fatty acids, monoglycerides (one glycerol, one fatty acid), and some diglycerides are absorbed by the duodenum, once the triglycerides have been broken down. In the intestine , following the secretion of lipases and bile , triglycerides are split into monoacylglycerol and free fatty acids in a process called lipolysis .
In triglycerides, the main group of bulk lipids, there is one molecule of glycerol and three fatty acids. Fatty acids are considered the monomer in that case, and may be saturated (no double bonds in the carbon chain) or unsaturated (one or more double bonds in the carbon chain). [citation needed]
The illustration is, for diagrammatic purposes, of a 12 carbon fatty acid. Most fatty acids in human plasma are 16 or 18 carbon atoms long. A diagrammatic illustration of the transfer of an acyl-CoA molecule across the inner membrane of the mitochondrion by carnitine-acyl-CoA transferase (CAT). The illustrated acyl chain is, for diagrammatic ...