Glyceride distribution in adipose and liver glycerides of animals

The glyceride distribution in depot fats from a series of animals was determined by pancreatic lipase hydrolysis, isolation of hydrolytic products by thin‐layer chromatography (TLC), and fatty acid analysis by gas‐liquid chromatography (GLC). Distribution of the principal types of glycerides (S 3 , S 2 U, SU 2 U 3 ) in the internal and external adipose tissue fats from the same pig was nonrandom. The percentages of palmitic acid at the 2‐position in these adipose fats were comparable. However, liver glycerides from this same animal differed strikingly from adipose glycerides, having, for example, only ca. 15% of its palmitic acid in the 2‐position compared with > 80% for adipose fats. The liver glycerides of lamb, rabbit, and dog also differed considerably from adipose glycerides in glyceride distribution and in percentages of individual fatty acids in 2‐position. The composition of adipose glycerides from Lamb, beef, deer, rabbit, chicken, and dog in terms of the four principal glyceride types approached closely the values calculated for random. When positional isomers were considered, however, only the adipose glycerides of the dog conformed to random distribution.