The Chemistry of Oils and Fats: Sources, Composition, Properties, and Uses

Defining lipids from several general and detailed perspectives, Chemistry of Oils and Fats: Sources, Composition, Properties and Uses discusses their major food and non-food uses and explains how the consumption of these fats affect health and well-being in both quantitative and qualitative terms. The book describes these materials in molecular terms and explores how nature produces these molecules and how we can act on nature to modify the materials to increase their beneficial properties. It also traces how lipids are processed, from the harvesting of crops to the appearance of the oils and fats in different products in the supermarket. The author discusses the importance of minor products present in the fats that we consume. This book examines the chemical and biological syntheses as well as the physical, chemical, and nutritional properties of lipids. It also describes analytical techniques used and demonstrates the independent and comparative analysis of various types of oils and fats.Chemistry of Oils and Fats: Sources, Composition, Properties and Uses provides a broad source of reference on oils and fats chemistry for graduates entering the food and oleochemical industries, postgraduate researchers, and nutritionists.