Since then, many other discoveries have been made relating to the broad group of compounds known as lipids. Lipid chemistry is central to our Olestra Chemcase. The natural animal and vegetable fats we sometimes try and limit and the synthetically produced Olestra that helps us accomplish that are lipids. Unlike proteins and carbohydrates, lipids are defined on the basis of a physical property, solubility, as opposed to a chemical structure. Lipids are biomolecules that are insoluble in water and highly soluble in non-polar organic solvents such as ether, chloroform, and benzene.
Lipids perform many important roles.
They are the highly concentrated fuel reserves that reside mostly in our adipose tissues. They constitute the bulk of biological membranes, forming an impermeable yet flexible barrier for all of our cells. As certain hormones and hormone receptors, they are signal carriers. They also form certain vitamins. There are two general types of lipids.