The key difference between saturated and unsaturated triglycerides is that saturated triglycerides have only single bonds between carbon atoms, whereas unsaturated triglycerides have double or triple bonds between carbon atoms.
The term saturated means the carbon atoms in the molecule are saturated with hydrogen or other atoms bonded with four covalent sigma bonds around each carbon atom. Therefore, there are no double or triple bonds between carbon atoms. In contrast, unsaturated means the carbon atoms are not completely saturated with hydrogen or other atoms, so they have formed double or triple bonds around them.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Triglycerides
3. What are Saturated Triglycerides
4. What are Unsaturated Triglycerides
5. Saturated vs Unsaturated Triglycerides in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Saturated vs Unsaturated Triglycerides
What are Triglycerides?
Triglycerides are ester compounds derived from glycerol and three fatty acid chains. These compounds are the major components of body fat in humans and other vertebrates (and also in vegetable fat). Moreover, triglycerides are present in the blood in order to enable the bidirectional transference of adipose fat and blood glucose from the liver.
There are many different types of triglycerides, including saturated and unsaturated triglycerides, which are classified based on the presence or absence of double and triple bonds between carbon atoms of the fatty acid carbon chain. Therefore, saturated triglycerides have no C=C bonds, while unsaturated triglycerides have one or more C=C bonds.
What are Saturated Triglycerides?
Saturated triglycerides are organic compounds having no double or triple bonds between carbon atoms in the carbon chain. These triglycerides have a predominance of saturated fatty acids in their structure. In other words, saturated triglycerides are saturated with sigma covalent bonds around carbon atoms, and they also have a maximum number of hydrogen atoms for a given number of carbon atoms in the fatty acid chain structure.
Generally, saturated triglycerides have a high melting point than corresponding unsaturated forms having a similar molecular weight. Therefore, saturated triglycerides are more likely to be solid at room temperature. E.g. tallow and lard.
What are Unsaturated Triglycerides?
Unsaturated triglycerides are organic compounds having one or more double or triple bonds between carbon atoms in the carbon chain. These triglycerides have a predominance of unsaturated fatty acids in their structure. Therefore, unsaturated triglycerides are not saturated with sigma covalent bonds around carbon atoms; thus, they have a minimum number of hydrogen atoms for a given number of carbon atoms in the fatty acid chain structure.
We can further classify these compounds into two groups as monounsaturated triglycerides and polyunsaturated triglycerides. The monounsaturated form contains only one double bond per carbon chain, while the polyunsaturated form can have two or more double bonds per carbon chain in the same molecule.
Usually, polyunsaturated triglycerides have important applications in the food industry due to the nutritional aspects, but there can be some non-food applications as well. The non-food applications include the production of drying oils, including linseed, tung, poppy seed, perilla and walnut oil.
We can convert an unsaturated triglyceride into a saturated form through the reaction with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst. It is named a hydrogenation process. We can use this reaction to convert vegetable oils into solid or semisolid vegetable fats such as margarine.
What is the Difference Between Saturated and Unsaturated Triglycerides?
The terms saturated and unsaturated refer to the absence or presence of double or triple bonds between carbon atoms, respectively, in an organic compound. The key difference between saturated and unsaturated triglycerides is that saturated triglycerides have only single bonds between carbon atoms, whereas unsaturated triglycerides have double or triple bonds between carbon atoms.
The below infographic compiles the differences between saturated and unsaturated triglycerides in tabular form for side by side comparison.
Summary – Saturated vs Unsaturated Triglycerides
The terms saturated and unsaturated refer to the absence or presence of double or triple bonds between carbon atoms, respectively, in an organic compound. The key difference between saturated and unsaturated triglycerides is that saturated triglycerides have only single bonds between carbon atoms, whereas unsaturated triglycerides have double or triple bonds between carbon atoms. Therefore, saturated triglycerides have no C=C bonds, while unsaturated triglycerides have one or more C=C bonds.
Reference:
1.“Triglycerides.” HEART UK – The Cholesterol Charity.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Stearic acid” (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Gamma-linolenic acid” By D.328 2008/11/22 03:19 (UTC) – Own work using: ChemBioDraw, Illustrator, Inkscape (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia