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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.
Membrane fluidity is affected by fatty acids. More specifically, whether the fatty acids are saturated or unsaturated has an effect on membrane fluidity. Saturated fatty acids have no double bonds in the hydrocarbon chain, and the maximum amount of hydrogen. The absence of double bonds decreases fluidity. Unsaturated fatty acids have at least ...
Three-dimensional representations of several fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids have perfectly straight chain structure. Unsaturated ones are typically bent, unless they have a trans configuration. In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated.
Common Name Systematic Name Structural Formula Lipid Numbers Propionic acid: Propanoic acid CH 3 CH 2 COOH : C3:0 Butyric acid: Butanoic acid CH 3 (CH 2) 2 COOH : C4:0 Valeric acid
The terms saturated vs unsaturated are often applied to the fatty acid constituents of fats. The triglycerides (fats) that comprise tallow are derived from the saturated stearic and monounsaturated oleic acids. [3] Many vegetable oils contain fatty acids with one (monounsaturated) or more (polyunsaturated) double bonds in them.
Ceramides (N-acyl-sphingoid bases) are a major subclass of sphingoid base derivatives with an amide-linked fatty acid. The fatty acids are typically saturated or mono-unsaturated with chain lengths from 16 to 26 carbon atoms. [25]: 421–2
Palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature) is a fatty acid with a 16-carbon chain. It is the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals, plants and microorganisms. [9] [10] Its chemical formula is CH 3 (CH 2) 14 COOH, and its C:D ratio (the total number of carbon atoms to the number of carbon-carbon double bonds) is 16:0.
This is because all fats contain some saturated fatty acids. For example, if a person chose fats with only 20% saturated fatty acids, setting fat intake at 35% of total calories would mean that 7% of calories would come from saturated fat. For this reason, the Institute of Medicine recommends consuming no more than 35% of calories from fat. [3]