What is "glyceride"

Glyceride \Glyc"er*ide\, n. [See Glycerin.] (Chem.) A compound ether (formed from glycerin). Some glycerides exist ready formed as natural fats, others are produced artificially.

compound of glycerol and organic acids; see glycerin + -ide.

n. (context organic chemistry English) An ester of glycerol and one or more fatty acid; they are the major constituents of lipids.

n. an ester of glycerol and fatty acids that occurs naturally as fats and fatty oils; "fresh fats contain glycerides of fatty acids and very little free acid" [syn: acylglycerol]

Glycerides, more correctly known as acylglycerols, are esters formed from glycerol and fatty acids.

Glycerol has three hydroxyl functional groups, which can be esterified with one, two, or three fatty acids to form monoglycerides, diglycerides, and triglycerides.

Vegetable oils and animal fats contain mostly triglycerides, but are broken down by natural enzymes ( lipases) into mono and diglycerides and free fatty acids and glycerol.

Soaps are formed from the reaction of glycerides with sodium hydroxide. The product of the reaction is glycerol and salts of fatty acids. Fatty acids in the soap emulsify the oils in dirt, enabling the removal of oily dirt with water.

Partial glycerides are esters of glycerol with fatty acids, where not all the hydroxyl groups are esterified. Since some of their hydroxyl groups are free their molecules are polar. Partial glycerides may be monoglycerides (two hydroxyl groups free) or diglycerides (one hydroxyl group free). Short chain partial glycerides are more strongly polar than long chain partial glycerides, and have excellent solvent properties for many hard-to-solubilize drugs, making them valuable as excipients in improving the formulation of certain pharmaceuticals. The most common forms of acylglycerol are triglycerides, having high caloric value and usually yielding twice as much energy per gram as carbohydrate.