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Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid
In biochemistry and nutrition, a polyunsaturated fat is a fat that contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid (abbreviated PUFA), which is a subclass of fatty acid characterized by a backbone with two or more carbon–carbon double bonds. Some polyunsaturated fatty acids are essentials. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are precursors to and are derived from polyunsaturated fats, which include drying oils. Nomenclature The position of the carbon-carbon double bonds in carboxylic acid chains in fats is designated by Greek letters. The carbon atom closest to the carboxyl group is the ''alpha'' carbon, the next carbon is the ''beta'' carbon and so on. In fatty acids the carbon atom of the methyl group at the end of the hydrocarbon chain is called the ''omega'' carbon because ''omega'' is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Omega-3 fatty acids have a double bond three carbons away from the methyl carbon, whereas omega-6 fatty acids have a double bond six carbons away from the methyl ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, and metabolism. Over the last decades of the 20th century, biochemistry has become successful at explaining living processes through these three disciplines. Almost all List of life sciences, areas of the life sciences are being uncovered and developed through biochemical methodology and research.#Voet, Voet (2005), p. 3. Biochemistry focuses on understanding the chemical basis that allows biomolecule, biological molecules to give rise to the processes that occur within living Cell (biology), cells and between cells,#Karp, Karp (2009), p. 2. in turn relating greatly to the understanding of tissue (biology), tissues and organ (anatomy), organs as well as organism structure and function.#Miller, Miller (2012). p. 62. Biochemistry is closely ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conjugated Fatty Acids
Conjugated fatty acids is jargon for polyunsaturated fatty acids containing at least one pair of conjugated double bonds. An example of a conjugated fatty acid is the rumenic acid, found in the meat and milk of ruminants. Most unsaturated fatty acids that are doubly unsaturated do not feature conjugation, e.g., linoleic acid and linoelaidic acid. Some conjugated fatty acids may confer health benefits ranging from the prevention of hypertension to protection against certain forms of cancer, although more research is needed to confirm such effects. Clinical studies and animal models have shown that conjugated fatty acids confer physiological benefits such as the regulation of the synthesis and breakdown of lipids, reduction of inflammation, and antioxidant properties. Conjugated fatty acids include isomers of linoleic acid. Conjugated analogues linoleic acids are the most investigated conjugated fatty acids. Some conjugated fatty acids feature ''trans'' alkenes. For instance, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Analytical Chemistry
Analytical skill, Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to Separation process, separate, identify, and Quantification (science), quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separation isolates analytes. Qualitative inorganic analysis, Qualitative analysis identifies analytes, while Quantitative analysis (chemistry), quantitative analysis determines the numerical amount or concentration. Analytical chemistry consists of classical, wet chemistry, wet chemical methods and modern analytical techniques. Classical qualitative methods use separations such as Precipitation (chemistry), precipitation, Extraction (chemistry), extraction, and distillation. Identification may be based on differences in color, odor, melting point, boiling point, solubility, radioactivity or reactivity. Classical quantitative analysis uses mass or volume changes to quantify amount. Ins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urea
Urea, also called carbamide (because it is a diamide of carbonic acid), is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two Amine, amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid. Urea serves an important role in the cellular metabolism of nitrogen-containing compounds by animals and is the main nitrogen-containing substance in the urine of mammals. ''Urea'' is Neo-Latin, , , itself from Proto-Indo-European ''*h₂worsom''. It is a colorless, odorless solid, highly soluble in water, and practically non-toxic ( is 15 g/kg for rats). Dissolved in water, it is neither acidic nor base (chemistry), alkaline. The body uses it in many processes, most notably metabolic waste#Nitrogen wastes, nitrogen excretion. The liver forms it by combining two ammonia molecules () with a carbon dioxide () molecule in the urea cycle. Urea is widely used in fertilizers as a source of nitrogen (N) and is an important ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Chemistry
Green chemistry, similar to sustainable chemistry or circular chemistry, is an area of chemistry and chemical engineering focused on the design of products and processes that minimize or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. While environmental chemistry focuses on the effects of pollutant, polluting chemicals on nature, green chemistry focuses on the environmentalism, environmental impact of chemistry, including lowering consumption of nonrenewable resources and technological approaches for preventing pollution. The overarching goals of green chemistry—namely, more resource-efficient and inherently safer design of molecules, materials, products, and processes—can be pursued in a wide range of contexts. History Green chemistry emerged from a variety of existing ideas and research efforts (such as atom economy and catalysis) in the period leading up to the 1990s, in the context of increasing attention to problems of chemical pollution and resource depletio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lipase
In biochemistry, lipase ( ) refers to a class of enzymes that catalyzes the hydrolysis of fats. Some lipases display broad substrate scope including esters of cholesterol, phospholipids, and of lipid-soluble vitamins and sphingomyelinases; however, these are usually treated separately from "conventional" lipases. Unlike esterases, which function in water, lipases "are activated only when adsorbed to an oil–water interface". Lipases perform essential roles in digestion, transport and processing of dietary lipids in most, if not all, organisms. Structure and catalytic mechanism Classically, lipases catalyse the hydrolysis of triglycerides: \begin \text + \ce &\longrightarrow \text + \text \\[4pt] \text + \ce &\longrightarrow \text + \text \\[4pt] \text + \ce &\longrightarrow \text + \text \end Lipases are serine hydrolases, i.e. they function by transesterification generating an acyl serine intermediate. Most lipases act at a specific position on the glycerol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
α-Linolenic Acid
α-Linolenic acid, also known as ''alpha''-linolenic acid (ALA) (from Greek ''alpha'' denoting "first" and ''linon'' meaning flax), is an ''n''−3, or omega-3, essential fatty acid. ALA is found in many seeds and oils, including flaxseed, walnuts, chia, hemp, and many common vegetable oils. In terms of its structure, it is named ''all''-''cis''-9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid. In physiological literature, it is listed by its lipid number, 18:3 (''n''−3). It is a carboxylic acid with an 18-carbon chain and three '' cis'' double bonds. The first double bond is located at the third carbon from the methyl end of the fatty acid chain, known as the ''n'' end. Thus, α-linolenic acid is a polyunsaturated ''n''−3 (omega-3) fatty acid. It is a regioisomer of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an 18:3 (''n''−6) fatty acid (i.e., a polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid with three double bonds). Etymology The word ''linolenic'' is an irregular derivation from ''linoleic'', which itsel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fatty Acid Desaturase
Fatty acid desaturases (also called unsaturases) are a family of enzymes that convert saturated fatty acids into unsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. For the common fatty acids of the C18 variety, desaturases convert stearic acid into oleic acid. Other desaturases convert oleic acid into linoleic acid, which is the precursor to alpha-linolenic acid, gamma-linolenic acid, and eicosatrienoic acid. Two subgroups of desaturases are recognized: * Delta - indicating that the double bond is created at a fixed position from the carboxyl end of a fatty acid chain. For example, Δ9-desaturase creates a double bond between the ninth and tenth carbon atom from the carboxyl end. * Omega - indicating the double bond is created at a fixed position from the methyl end of a fatty acid chain. For instance, ω3 desaturase creates a double bond between the third and fourth carbon atom from the methyl end. In other words, it creates an omega-3 fatty acid. For example, Δ6 des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oleic Acid
Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish due to the presence of impurities. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid, abbreviated with a lipid number of 18:1 ''cis''-9, and a main product of Δ9-desaturase. It has the formula . The name derives from the Latin word '' oleum'', which means oil. It is the most common fatty acid in nature. The salts and esters of oleic acid are called oleates. It is a common component of oils, and thus occurs in many types of food, as well as in soap. Occurrence Fatty acids (or their salts) often do not occur as such in biological systems. Instead fatty acids such as oleic acid occur as their esters, commonly triglycerides, which are the greasy materials in many natural oils. Oleic acid is the most common monounsaturated fatty acid in nature. It is found in fats (trigl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biosynthesis
Biosynthesis, i.e., chemical synthesis occurring in biological contexts, is a term most often referring to multi-step, enzyme-Catalysis, catalyzed processes where chemical substances absorbed as nutrients (or previously converted through biosynthesis) serve as enzyme substrate (chemistry), substrates, with conversion by the living organism either into simpler or more complex Product (chemistry), products. Examples of biosynthetic pathways include those for the production of amino acids, lipid membrane components, and nucleotides, but also for the production of all classes of biological macromolecules, and of acetyl-coenzyme A, adenosine triphosphate, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and other key intermediate and transactional molecules needed for metabolism. Thus, in biosynthesis, any of an array of Chemical compound, compounds, from simple to complex, are converted into other compounds, and so it includes both the catabolism and anabolism (building up and breaking down) of comple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
