Saturated fatty acid is a fatty acid carrying the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms (It doesn’t have any double bounds in the alkyl chain). The most important of these are:
| Butyric (butanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)2COOH |
| Lauric (dodecanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)10COOH |
| Myristic (tetradecanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)12COOH |
| Palmitic (hexadecanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)14COOH |
| Stearic (octadecanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)16COOH |
| Arachidic (eicosanoic acid) | CH3(CH2)18COOH |
Unsaturated fatty acid is a fatty acid whose carbon chain can absorb additional hydrogen atoms. Their carbon chain has one or more double or triple valence bond per molecule. The most important of these are:
| Oleic (9-octadecenoic acid) | CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7COOH |
| Linoleic (9,12-octadecadienoic acid) | CH3(CHCH2)3(CH2CH=CH)2(CHCH2)7COOH |
| Linolenic (9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid) | CH3(CH2CH=CH)3(CHCH2)7COOH |
Amino acids are compounds containing both a carboxylic acid group (-COOH) and an amino group (-NH2 ). The most important are the α-amino acids, in which the -NH2 group in attached to the C atom adjacent to the -COOH group. In the β-amino acids, there is an intervening carbon atom.
Carboxylic acids are organic compounds characterized by the presence of one or more RC(=O)OH groups (the carboxyl group). In the systematic chemical nomenclature carboxylic acids names end in the suffix -oic (e.g. ethanoic acids, CH3COOH). The carbon of the terminal group being counted as part of the chain. They are generally weak acids. Carboxylic acids include a large and important class of fatty acids and may be either saturated or unsaturated. There are also some natural aromatic carboxylic acids (benzoic, salicylic).
Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fatty acids, meaning they contain more than one double bond. The name omega-3 indicates that the first double bond occurs on the third carbon atom (n-3) from the methyl (-CH3) end of the molecule (omega position). The three main omega-3 fatty acids are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n-3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3). ALA comes from plants. EPA and DHA come from fish.
Similarly, the first double bond in omega-6 fatty acids is located between the sixth and seventh carbon atom (n-6) from the methyl end of the fatty acid (omega end).
Polyprotonic acids are acids which dissolve in more than one degree.
Antioxidants are compounds that slow down oxidation processes that degrade foods, fuels, rubber, plastic, and other materials. Antioxidants like butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), are added to food to prevent fats from becoming rancid and to minimize decomposition of vitamins and essential fatty acids; they work by scavenging destructive free radicals from the food.
Plain salt is a salt that contains only metal ions (or ammonium ions) and acid radical. It is created when all ions of hydrogen in an acid are replaced with ions of metal (or ammonium ions).
Generalic, Eni. "Acid radical." Croatian-English Chemistry Dictionary & Glossary. 29 June 2022. KTF-Split. {Date of access}. <https://glossary.periodni.com>.
Glossary
Periodic Table
