page_title: Saponification
section_title: Saponification of fats
hierarchical_section_title: Saponification / Saponification of fats
caption_attribution_description: chemical structure of stearin
context_page_description: Saponification is a process that involves conversion of fat, oil or lipid into soap and alcohol by the action of heat in the presence of aqueous alkali. Soaps are salts of fatty acids and fatty acids are monocarboxylic acids that have long carbon chains e.g. sodium palmitate.
context_section_description: Vegetable oils and animal fats are the traditional materials that are saponified.  These greasy materials, triesters called triglycerides,  are mixtures derived from diverse fatty acids. Triglycerides can be converted to soap in either a one- or a two-step process.  In the traditional one-step process, the triglyceride is treated with a strong base (e.g. lye), which cleaves the ester bond, releasing fatty acid salts (soaps) and glycerol.  This process is also the main industrial method for producing glycerol.  In some soap-making, the glycerol is left in the soap.  If necessary, soaps may be precipitated by salting it out with sodium chloride.
  Fat in a corpse converts into adipocere, often called "grave wax". This process is more common where the amount of fatty tissue is high and the agents of decomposition are absent or only minutely present.
caption: Skeletal formula of stearin, a triglyceride that is converted by saponification with sodium hydroxide into glycerol and soap.
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