Lipids

LIPIDS
Lipids are fats and other water insoluble compounds. The difference between fats and oils is simply that fats are solid at room temperature and oils are liquid. Most of the fats for examplethe butter are obtained from the animals and the oils for example the olive oil are plant products.
Although excessive dietary fat is harmful you need some lipids in your diet o stay healthy. Lipidssuch as butter provide an efficient way for your body to store energy and also needed to keep your cell membranes healthy.
Property of lipids
Lipids tend to dissolve readily in organic solvents suchas ether and chloroform, rather than in highly polar solvents such as water. This property sets them apart from most the biological substances such as carbohydrates and proteins.
TriglyceridesNatural fats and oils exits as triesters of glycerol with fatty acids, which are long, chain carboxylic acids (c12 through c24) this form of lipid is known as triglyceride.
Triglyceride is important asthe long term storage form energy in the human body. The following equation shows the general reaction for the formation of triglycerides.
The hydrolysis of oils or fats by boiling with an aqueoussolution of an alkali-metal hydroxide is called saponification.

Phospholipids
Phospholipids or lipids that contain phosphate groups are abundant in the cell. The lecithin molecule has a hydrophilic(water-loving) ionic head and oily or hydrophobic (water-hating) hydrocarbon tails. Lecithin which is partly hydrophobic and partly hydrophilic behaves in water like both an insoluble hydrocarbon asoluble ionic compound.
In water phospholipids spontaneously form a spherical double layer called lipid bilayer in which the hydrophobic tails of phospholipid molecules are sandwiched between twolayers of hydrophilic heads.
Waxes
Waxes are also part of the lipid family. Waxes are esters of long-chain fatty acids and long-chain alcohols. Waxes are low melting stable solids. In many plants, a...