Fat and Fatty Acid Terminology, Methods of Analysis and Fat Digestion and Metabolism: A Background Review Paper

Fats, oils or lipids consist of a large number of organic compounds including fatty acids, monoacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, triacylglycerols (TGs), phospholipids (PLs), eicosanoids, resolvins, docosanoids, sterols, sterol esters, carotenoids, vitamin A and E, fatty alcohols, hydrocarbons and wax esters. Classically, lipids were defined as substances that are soluble in organic solvents. This is a loose definition and could include a number of non-lipid organic compounds. A novel definition and comprehensive system of classification of lipids were proposed in 2005 [Fahy et al., 2005]. The novel definition is chemically based and defines lipids as small hydrophobic or amphipathic (or amphiphilic) molecules that may originate entirely or in part by condensations of thioesters and/or isoprene units. The proposed lipid classification system enables the cataloguing of lipids and their properties in a way that is compatible with other macromolecular data bases. Using this approach, lipids from biological tissues have been divided into 8 categories, as shown in table 1 . Each category contains distinct classes and subclasses of molecules [Fahy et al., 2005]. Published online: September 15, 2009