2.2 Types of Fatty Acid

• Fatty acids: Naturally occurring monocarboxylic acids with linear (unbranched) carbon chain *building blocks of Lipids.
• • Long-chain fatty acids (C12 to C26)

  • Medium-chain fatty acids (C8 to C10)

  • Short-chain fatty acids (C4 to C6 )
• Two types of Fatty acids

  1. Saturated - All C-C bonds are single bonds
  2. Unsaturated - Monosaturated, Polyunsaturated
• Classification of Fatty Acids

  1. Length of their carbon chains
  2. Degree of unsaturation (number of double bonds)
  3. Positions of the double bonds in the chains.
• The fatty acids present in naturally occurring lipids almost always have the following three characteristics:

  1. An unbranched carbon chain
  2. An even number of carbon atoms in the carbon chain
  3. Double bonds, when present in the carbon chain, in a cis configuration