fatty acid

fatty acid

n.

Any of a large group of monobasic acids, especially those found in animal and vegetable fats and oils, having the general formula C_nH_2n+₁COOH. Characteristically made up of saturated or unsaturated aliphatic compounds with an even number of carbon atoms, this group of acids includes palmitic, stearic, and oleic acids.

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fatty acid

Noun

any of a class of organic acids some of which, such as stearic acid, are found in animal or vegetable fats

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fatty acid  (ft)

Any of a large group of organic acids, especially those found in animal and vegetable fats and oils. Fatty acids are mainly composed of long chains of hydrocarbons ending in a carboxyl group. A fatty acid is saturated when the bonds between carbon atoms are all single bonds. It is unsaturated when any of these bonds is a double bond.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

fatty acid - any of a class of aliphatic monocarboxylic acids that form part of a lipid molecule and can be derived from fat by hydrolysis; fatty acids are simple molecules built around a series of carbon atoms linked together in a chain of 12 to 22 carbon atoms carboxylic acid - an organic acid characterized by one or more carboxyl groups saturated fatty acid - a fatty acid whose carbon chain cannot absorb any more hydrogen atoms; found chiefly in animal fats unsaturated fatty acid - a fatty acid whose carbon chain can absorb additional hydrogen atoms trans fatty acid - a fatty acid that has been produced by hydrogenating an unsaturated fatty acid (and so changing its shape); found in processed foods such as margarine and fried foods and puddings and commercially baked goods and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils