Lipids: Roles and Types

• Lipids is a fat like molecule and is major building block of the cell of animals. Are organic meaning they contain carbon atoms and also contain hydrogen oxygen.
• Roles of lipids 

  • They serve as the highest energy giving the body.
  • They act as insulators by protecting animals from extreme cold.
  • They serve as a constituent of the cytoplasm of a living cell.
  • They form a part of the structure of the cell membrane.
  • They serve as a building block for many steroids.
• Fats make up the largest category of lipids and go by the terms triacilgliceroles, triglycerides, and glycero lipids. Nutrients in food that a body uses to build cell membranes, nerve tissue, and hormones.
• Saturated is a lipid that exist as a solid substance when it is at room temperature.
• Unsaturated fat is a lipid that exist as a liquid when it is at room temperature.
• Trans fat is a lipid that has undergone a process called hydrogenation.
• Steroids have no fatty acids but are also considered lipids.
• Cholesterol is a steroid that is harmful to the body because it causes heart ailments.
• Bile salts are lipids that are found in human intestinal bile.
• Sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone.
• Cortisol is a lipid that is produced and response to stress.
• Waxes composed of fatty acids but are combined with a much longer alcohol molecule. They are used as lubricants, polisher, and ointments. They also served to protect the surface of some leaves.
• Terpenes do not contain fatty acids but they are considered lipid because they are insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents. They come from a compound known as isoprene.
• Phosphoglyceride also known as phospholipids are important components of plasma membrane as well as of other biological membranes.
• Lethicin is found in egg yolk, brain, yeast, and liver, in acts as a emulsifying agent.
• Cephalin is found in brain tissue.