The link between fats and their high caloric value is a useful one to make. One

Question

The link between fats and their high caloric value is a useful one to make. One can ignite doughnuts or potato chips to show how much heat and light they can yield. Potato chips can spit flames, so a flame-resistant hood is a good idea. I make the same point with a gas chromatograph of potato chips and one of gasoline. The lines of the two charts are similar enough so that most students get the point. The structure of octane and a saturated fatty acid differs only in the carbon chain length and the carboxyl group. You might want to find structures of both to convey the fact that fats are a major fuel type in the body. What is your understanding of the role of fat in the human body?

Explanation / Answer

Fats are the major source of energy for a human body. Apart from being as energy source it is also a major source of essential fatty acids such as omega-3 fatty acid and it is a vital component for absorption and transportation of the fat soluble vitamins such as Vitamin A, D, E and K.

Among the other food items such as carbohydrates and proteins the calorific value of fats are more i.e 37 kJ/g while proteins and carbohydrate have 17 kJ/g.

Gas chromatography is one of the method used to analyze and estimate the fatty acid. Since these fatty acids are water insoluble they are converted as fatty acid methy-esters and are analyzed in gas chromatography.

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