Fats and Lipids Explained: Classification with Clear Examples
Question 1. Classification of fats/lipids.
Answer.
Definition Of Lipids
Lipids are organic substances, relatively insoluble in water, soluble in organic solvents (alcohol, ether), related to fatty acids, and utilized by living cells
Classification Of Lipids
Lipids are classified into the following groups
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Simple Lipids
These are esters of fatty acids with alcohol.
They are of two types:
- Fats and oils (triacylglycerol)
These are esters of fatty acids with glycerol.
The difference between fat and oil is only physical.
Thus, oil is a liquid while fat is a solid at room temperature - Waxes
These are esters of fatty acids with alcohol other than glycerol.
Cetyl alcohol is most commonly found in waxes
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Complex Or Compounds Lipids
These are esters of fatty acids with alcohols containing additional groups such as phosphate, nitrogenous base, carbohydrate, and protein.
They are further divided as
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Phospholipids
These are lipids containing fatty acids, alcohol, phosphoric acid, and nitrogenous bases.
They are of the following types:
- Glycero-phospholipids –
They contain glycerol as the alcohol, e.g.- Phosphatidyl choline (lecithin)
- Phosphatidyl ethanolamine (cephalin)
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- Sphingo-phospholipid
They contain sphingol as the alcohol. e.g. Sphingomyelin - Phosphoinositide
They contain inositol as the alcohol. e.g. Phosphatidyl inositol
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Glycolipids
These are lipids containing fatty acid, sphingolipid, nitrogenous base, and carbohydrate, e.g.
- Cerebroside
- Ganglioside
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