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    Lipids

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    Abdul Maalik
    Lipids are molecules that contain hydrocarbons and make up cell structures and membranes. They are not soluble in water but are soluble in nonpolar solvents. Lipids consist mainly of hydrocarbons and store and release energy when metabolized. They can be extracted from plants and animals using nonpolar solvents and include fats, oils, waxes, vitamins, hormones, and cell membranes. Lipids are either hydrolyzable, containing ester groups that break down in water, or nonhydrolyzable without these groups like steroids and fat-soluble vitamins.

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    Lipids

    Uploaded by

    Abdul Maalik
    81 views3 pages
    Lipids are molecules that contain hydrocarbons and make up cell structures and membranes. They are not soluble in water but are soluble in nonpolar solvents. Lipids consist mainly of hydrocarbons and store and release energy when metabolized. They can be extracted from plants and animals using nonpolar solvents and include fats, oils, waxes, vitamins, hormones, and cell membranes. Lipids are either hydrolyzable, containing ester groups that break down in water, or nonhydrolyzable without these groups like steroids and fat-soluble vitamins.

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    Lipids

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    Lipids are molecules that contain hydrocarbons and make up cell structures and membranes. They are not soluble in water but are soluble in nonpolar solvents. Lipids consist mainly of hydrocarbons and store and release energy when metabolized. They can be extracted from plants and animals using nonpolar solvents and include fats, oils, waxes, vitamins, hormones, and cell membranes. Lipids are either hydrolyzable, containing ester groups that break down in water, or nonhydrolyzable without these groups like steroids and fat-soluble vitamins.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    81 views3 pages

    Lipids

    Uploaded by

    Abdul Maalik
    Lipids are molecules that contain hydrocarbons and make up cell structures and membranes. They are not soluble in water but are soluble in nonpolar solvents. Lipids consist mainly of hydrocarbons and store and release energy when metabolized. They can be extracted from plants and animals using nonpolar solvents and include fats, oils, waxes, vitamins, hormones, and cell membranes. Lipids are either hydrolyzable, containing ester groups that break down in water, or nonhydrolyzable without these groups like steroids and fat-soluble vitamins.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Lipids are molecules that contain hydrocarbons and make up the building blocks of the

    structure and function of living cells. Examples of lipids include fats, oils, waxes, certain
    vitamins, hormones and most of the non-protein membrane of cells.

    What are lipids soluble in?


    Lipids are not soluble in water. They are non-polar and are thus soluble in nonpolar
    environments like in choloroform but not soluble in polar environments like water.

    What do lipids consist of?


    Lipids have mainly hydrocarbons in their composition and are highly reduced forms of
    carbon. When metabolized, lipids are oxidized to release large amounts of energy and thus
    are useful to living organisms.

    Where do lipids come from?


    Lipids are molecules that can be extracted from plants and animals using nonpolar solvents
    such as ether, chloroform and acetone. Fats (and the fatty acids from which they are made)
    belong to this group as do other steroids, phospholipids forming cell membrane components
    etc.

    Hydrolyzable/Non-hydrolyzable lipids
    Lipids that contain a functional group ester are hydrolysable in water. These include neutral
    fats, waxes, phospholipids, and glycolipids.
    Nonhydrolyzable lipids lack such functional groups and include steroids and fat-soluble
    vitamins (e.g. A, D, E, and K). Fats and oils are composed of triacylglycerols or triglycerides.
    These are composed of glycerol (1,2,3-trihydroxypropane) and 3 fatty acids to form a
    triester. Triglycerides are found in blood tests. Complete hydrolysis of triacylglycerols yields
    three fatty acids and a glycerol molecule.

    Fatty acids
    Fatty acids are long chain carboxylic acids (typically 16 or more carbon atoms) which may
    or may not contain carbon-carbon double bonds. The number of carbon atoms are almost
    always an even number and are usually unbranched. Oleic acid is the most abundant fatty
    acid in nature.

    The membrane that surrounds a cell is made up of proteins and lipids. Depending on the
    membranes location and role in the body, lipids can make up anywhere from 20 to 80
    percent of the membrane, with the remainder being proteins. Cholesterol, which is not
    found in plant cells, is a type of lipid that helps stiffen the membrane. Image Credit:
    National Institute of General Medical Sciences

    Waxes/fats and oils


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    These are esters with long-chain carboxylic acids and long-alcohols. Fat is the name given to
    a class of triglycerides that appear as solid or semisolid at room temperature, fats are
    mainly present in animals. Oils are triglycerides that appear as a liquid at room
    temperature, oils are mainly present in plants and sometimes in fish.

    Mono/poly unsaturated and saturated


    Those fatty acids with no carbon-carbon double bonds are called saturated. Those that have
    two or more double bonds are called polyunsaturated. Oleic acid is monounsaturated.

    Saturated fats are typically solids and are derived from animals, while unsaturated fats are
    liquids and usually extracted from plants.
    Unsaturated fats assume a particular geometry that prevents the molecules from packing as
    efficiently as they do in saturated molecules. Thus the boiling points of unsaturated fats is
    lower.

    Synthesis and function of lipids in the body


    Lipids are utilized or synthesized from the dietary fats. There are in addition numerous
    biosynthetic pathways to both break down and synthesize lipids in the body.
    There are, however, some essential lipids that need to be obtained from the diet. The main
    biological functions of lipids include storing energy as lipids may be broken down to yield
    large amounts of energy. Lipids also form the structural components of cell membranes and
    form various messengers and signalling molecules within the body.

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