The component acids and glycerides of a horse mesenteric fat

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Abstract
The component acids of mesenteric fat from a horse consisted mainly of oleic (34%), palmitic (26%) and linolenic (octadeca-9,12,15-trienoic) (16%) acids, with about 5-6% each of myristic (tetradecanoic), stearic, hexadecenoic, and linoleic (octadeca-9,12-dienoic) acids, 2% of higher unsaturated acids and traces of lauric (dodecanoic) and arachidic (eicosanoic) acids. The presence of ordinary linolenic and linoleic acids in some quantity in horse fats was confirmed. The proportion of these acids observed is the same as in a group of New Zealand horse fats recently examined by Brooker and Shorland (1950), but both results differ from the experience of Holmberg and Rosenqvist (1949), who found more linoleic and much less linolenic acid in a Swedish horse fat. It is probable that the variations are connected with differences in the diet of the animals. The component glycerides consist of a complex mixture of mixed glycerides, each individual acid being for the most part distributed evenly throughout the triglyceride molecules. In general structure, therefore, the horse fat glycerides resemble those of vegetable fats, marine animal oils, etc., rather than those of other land animals, such as oxen and sheep, which are rich in stearic acid and which also contain an abnormal proportion of trisaturated glycerides (palmitostearins). The chief individual components of the horse fat include palmito-oleo-linolenins (approx. 30%) and glycerides with one oleic acid and 2 other (usually different) unsaturated acyl groups (approx. 18%), with lesser proportions of oleodisaturated glycerides, palmitodiolein, palmito-hexadeceno-olein and palmito-oleo-linolein, and very small amounts of many mixed glycerides. Trisaturated glycerides form little more than 2% of the whole fat.