16 - Triglycerides, Diet And Health Flashcards
What types of fats are dangerous, and which aren’t?
Saturated fats are dangerous as they increase the risk of heart disease. Trans cars are thought to increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Cis fats pose little dangers to health.
What is cis/trans isomerism?
A special type of isomerism where each carbon in the double bond carries on atom or group that is the same.
How do unsaturated fats exist in nature?
Unsaturated fats usually only exist in cis form in nature.
What form are cis/trans isomers in at room temperature? Why?
In cis form the fatty acids cannot pack closely together; therefore they’re liquid at room temperature. In trans form the fatty acids can pack together closely, as they’re quite linear, and so are solid at room temperature. Hence why trans fats always have higher boiling points than cis fats.
What’s the side effect of hydrogenation?
The remaining double bonds in a carbon chain may be structurally changed. They may be conveyed from the cis form to the trans form.
What are the properties of LDLs and HDLs?
HDLs transport cholesterol out of the blood and eventually body. They’re known as good cholesterol. LDLs carry about 65% of cholesterol in the blood. They deposit lipids onto the artery wall, this builds up and reduces blood flow.
Why are trans fats bad?
Trans fats are bad as they behave as saturated fats. They raise the LDL level, increasing the risk of heart disease. HDLs are also reduced by trans fats.
What are the sources of Biodiesel? How do you form biodiesel?
The source of biodiesel are waste cooking oil, oils from palm/soya bean crop, and rapeseed oil. Biodiesel is a ethyl of methyl ester of a carboxylic acid. Biodiesel is made by transesterification. Triglycerides in fats and oils are reacted with Ethanol or Methanol in the presence of sodium (or potassium) hydroxide catalyst. Glycerol is also formed, which can be sold to the pharmaceutical industry - this increases the atom economy.
