Animal fat

Description

A semisolid mixture of long chain hydrocarbon fatty acids obtained from animals. Animal fats are primarily composed of the glycerides of oleic acid (42-53%), palmitic acid (20-28%), stearic acid (6-13%), linoleic acid (8-13% and myristic acid (0.2-2.0%) (Serpico and White 2000). Fats are obtained from animal parts by extraction with either boiling water, steam, or organic solvents. Examples are bone fat, Lard, Tallow, Lanolin, and butterfat.

Synonyms and Related Terms

stearin; lard; tallow; lanolin; grasa animal (Esp.); graisse animale (Fr.); grasso animale (It); bone fat; butter fat

Physical and Chemical Properties

Density	0.94

Resources and Citations

• M.Serpico, R.White, "Oil, fat and wax" in Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, P.Nicholson, I.Shaw (eds.), Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 390-429.

• Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technologies, Paul Nicholson, Ian Shaw (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000 Comment: M.Serpico, R.White, "Oil, fat and wax"

• Thomas Gregory, The Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Reinhold Publishing, New York, 3rd ed., 1942

• The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 9211

• Matte Paint: Its history and technology, analysis, properties and conservation treatment, Eric Hansen, Sue Walston, Mitchell Bishop (ed.), J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, Vol. 30 of AATA, 1993

• CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, Robert Weast (ed.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, v. 61, 1980 Comment: density=0.94