Triglycerides

Question 1

What is a triglyceride a type of?

Answer 1

Lipid

Question 2

What is the basic structure of triglycerides?

Answer 2

One glycerol
Three fatty acid chains

Question 3

What makes glycerol an alcohol?

Answer 3

The OH groups

Question 4

Why would adding lipase to an oil reduce the pH?

Answer 4

• Lipase breaks down a triglyceride to relase the glycerol and fatty acids
• Fatty acids are what make the mixture acidic

Question 5

When you draw a simple diagram of a triglyceride, there are lots of bumps in the fatty acids, what do they represent?

Answer 5

Each bump/kink is a carbon (CH2)

Question 6

What bond forms between the glycerol and fatty acid?

Answer 6

Ester bond

Question 7

Memorise the structure of a glycerol

Answer 7

Ok (HCOH)

Question 8

Memorise the structure of a fatty acid

Answer 8

Ok (OHOCCH2CH3)

Question 9

What is the difference between a saturated and unsaturated fatty acid chain, and polyunsaturated?

Answer 9

Saturated has single bonds only, unsaturated has a double bond, and forms a kink
Polyunsaturated fatty acid chains have more than one double carbon to carbon bond