Chapter 19, Problem 83P

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The reason of the liquid state of coconut oil in spite of presence of saturated fatty acids needs to be explained.

Concept Introduction:

Triacylglycerols are most abundant lipids, which are mainly found in animal fat and vegetable oils. They are triesters of glycerol, therefore in the formation of one molecule of triacylglycerol, three molecules of fatty acids react with one molecule of glycerol as given below;

  ${\text{CH}}_{\text{2}}{\text{(OH)CH(OH)CH}}_{\text{2}}\text{(OH) + 3 R- COOH}\stackrel{}{\to }{\text{CH}}_{\text{2}}{\text{(OCOR)CH(OCOR)CH}}_{\text{2}}{\text{(OCOR) + 3 H}}_{\text{2}}\text{O}$