Lipids: Fats & Oils

Prepared by: Mohamed kasala

B. Waxes
 Waxes are also lipids with long carbon chains. In nature, they
serve mostly as protective and structural coatings. Bees make wax
to build the walls of honeycombs.
 Triacontanylpalmitateis the main component of bee wax.
Palmiticacid (C16:0) is esterified by a C30 chain, triacontanol(or
melissylalcohol).
FUNCTIONS OF WAX

 Chief storage fuels for some of the microorganisms.

 Protect skin and hair.

 Prevents excess water evaporation in plants.

 Protects against parasites

 Application in industries, pharmaceuticals, and

cosmetics
COMPOUND LIPIDS
 2-Compound Lipids
Definition:
 They are lipids that contain additional
substances, e.g., sulfur, phosphorus, amino
group, carbohydrate, or proteins beside fatty
acid and alcohol.
 Compound or conjugated lipids are classified
into the following types according to the
nature of the additional group:
A. Phospholipids
B. Glycolipids.
C. Lipoproteins
 A-Phospholipids
Definition: Phospholipids or phosphatides are
compound lipids, which contain phosphoric
acid group in their structure.
 Phospholipids are like triglycerides, but they
have two fatty acid chains called “tails” and
one charged group called the “head” that
contains phosphate and oxygen atoms. Because
it is charged, the head is polar and therefore
attracts water molecules.
 The long fatty acid tail is nonpolar and does
not attract water molecules. The polar and
nonpolar parts of phospholipids allow them to
form lipid bilayers. “Bi” is from Latin and
means “two.”
 The bilayer forms when the phospholipid
molecules arrange themselves in two layers with
the tails facing in (facing each other) and the
heads facing out.
 This leads to the formation of micelles
AMPHIPATHIC LIPIDS
As per definition, lipids are insoluble
(hydrophobic)in water. This is primarily due to
the predominant presence of hydrocarbon groups.
However, some of the lipids possess polar or
hydrophilic groups which tend to be soluble in
water.
Molecules which contain both hydrophobic and
hydrophilic groups are known as amphipathic
(Greek : amphi-both, pathos—passion).
bilayer
Structure: phospholipids are composed of:
1. Fatty acids (a saturated and an unsaturated
fatty acid).
2. Nitrogenous base (choline, serine,
ethanolamine).
3. Phosphoric acid.
4. Fatty alcohols (glycerol, or sphingosine).
 Classification of Phospholipids
 There are two classes of phospholipids
A. Glycerophospholipids:
that contain glycerol as the alcohol and
Glycerophospholipids are the major lipids that
occur in biological membranes. They consist of
glycerol 3-phosphate
B. Sphingophospholipids:
They contain sphingosine as an alcohol and are
named Sphingomyelins
A-Glycerophospholipids
1-Phosphatidic acids:
This is the simplest phospholipid. It does not
occur in good concentration in the tissues.
Basically, phosphatidic acid is an intermediate
in the synthesis of triacylglycerols and
phospholipids.
 2-Lecithins: (phosphatidylcholine):

These are the most abundant group of

phospholipids in the cell membranes.
Chemically, lecithin (Greek : lecithos—egg
yolk)
 is a phosphatidic acid with choline as the
base. Phosphatidylcholines represent the
storage form of body’s choline.
 Structure: Glycerol is connected at C2 or C3
with a polyunsaturated fatty acid, at C1 with a
saturated fatty acid, at C3 or C2 by phosphate
to which the choline base is connected. The
common fatty acids in lecithins are stearic,
palmitic, oleic, linoleic, linolenic, or
arachidonic acids.
3.Cephalins (phosphatidylethanolamine) :
Ethanolamine is the nitrogenous base present
in cephalins. Thus, lecithin and cephalin differ
with regard to the base.
Functions of phospholipids
Phospholipids constitute an important group of compound lipids
that perform a wide variety of functions
1. In association with proteins, phospholipids form the structural
components of membranes and regulate membrane
permeability.
2. Phospholipids (lecithin, cephalin) in the mitochondria maintain
the conformation of electron transport chain components, and
thus cellular respiration.
3. Phospholipids participate in the absorption of fat from the
intestine.
4. Phospholipids are essential for the synthesis of different
lipoproteins, and thus participate in the transport of lipids.
5. Phospholipids participate in the reverse cholesterol transport
and thus help in the removal of cholesterol from the body.
PHOSPHOLIPIDS IN FOODS

• A typical diet contains only about 2 grams per day

• Lecithin (phosphatidylcholine) is the major phospholipid and is
found in:
• Liver, egg yolk, soybeans, peanuts, legumes, spinach, and
wheat germ
• Usually lost during food processing
B-Sphingophospholipids
 Sphingosine is an amino alcohol present in
sphingomyelins (sphingophospholipids). They
do not contain glycerol at all. Sphingosine is
attached by an amide linkage to a fatty acid to
produce ceramide.
 B-Glycolipids
 Glycolipids (glycosphingolipids) are important
constituents of cell membrane and nervous tissues
(particularly the brain). Cerebrosides are the
simplest form of glycolipids.
 C-Lipoproteins
 Lipoproteins are molecular complexes of
lipids with proteins. They are the transport
vehicles for lipids in the circulation.
 There are many types of lipoproteins, but the
two most important ones are called LDL (Low
Density Lipoprotein) and HDL (High
Density Lipoprotein)
TO BE CONTINUED