FATS AND OTHER LIPIDS FROM SINGLE-CELL CULTURES, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS

Through the ages, a major portion of fats and oils produced by man has been used as human food and animal feed. For little more than a century, most of the inedible fats, together with substantial proportions of edible fats and oils, have served as raw material for the production of bulk commodities such as soaps and detergents, paints and varnishes, as well as lubricants and plastics. These products are beneficial on account of their physical and chemical properties. The biological properties of some naturally occurring lipids are being recognized and appreciated since the 1930ies. As a result of intensive research efforts, the structures of these substances, notably of the fat-soluble vitamins, hormones, essential fatty acids and oxylipids derived therefrom, pheromones, platelet activating factor and other ether lipids, are now known. Both naturally occurring lipids and semisynthetic or synthetic analogues are being applied in agriculture, bio-medical research and clinical therapy. A 'fat tree' devised in 1958 by the late H. P. Kaufmann illustrates the wide applicability of fats and oils at that time. The present article includes a figure showing further ramifications of Kaufmann's tree. The structures, properties, and uses of the substances added recently are outlined in a series of publications that appeared in a special issue of the journal Fat Science Technology.