Introduction to Food Chemistry by Vassilis Kontogiorgos

Author:Vassilis Kontogiorgos
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9783030856427
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

4.2 Fatty Acid Nomenclature and General Characteristics

Fatty acids are carboxylic acids with an aliphatic (straight) carbon chain. Fatty acids differ from one another in two major ways: the length of the carbon chain and the degree of saturation. The number of carbon atoms determines the length of the chain, and in naturally occurring fatty acids, it is always an even number, usually between 4 and 22 carbon atoms. The one end of the structure is hydrophilic, as it contains the carboxylic group, whereas the hydrocarbon chain is hydrophobic. The counting of carbon atoms starts from the carbon atom of the carboxyl group and proceeds to the left (Fig. 4.1). The degree of saturation is determined by the number of double bonds between carbon atoms. In the absence of a carbon-carbon double bond, the fatty acids are called saturated. Fatty acids with one carbon-carbon double bond are called monounsaturated, and with two or more carbon-carbon double bonds are called polyunsaturated. Saturated fatty acids are primarily found in animal sources such as meat, poultry, butter, egg yolk, or lard. Plant sources that contain saturated fatty acids are coconut and palm oils. Major sources of monounsaturated fatty acids are olive and avocado oils and peanut butter. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are predominantly found in plants (e.g., corn, canola, sunflower, or flaxseed) and fish oils.

Fig. 4.1Structure of fatty acids. See text for description

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