How is stearic acid produced?
Table of Contents
Stearic acid is a fatty acid typically produced by hydrolysis of common animal and vegetable fats and oils, followed by fractionation (distillation or crystallization) of the resulting fatty acids. Pressing methods separate the liquid unsaturated fatty acids from the solid saturated fatty acids.
What are the 4 steps of fatty acid synthesis?
The cycle of transfer, elongation, reduction, dehydration, and reduction continues until palmitoyl‐ACP is made. Then the thioesterase activity of the FAS complex releases the 16‐carbon fatty acid palmitate from the FAS.

What is the structure of stearic acid?
C18H36O2Stearic acid / Formula
How is stearate produced?
It is synthesized by the hydrolysis of animal fat or from hydrogenation of cottonseed or vegetable oil. Commercial stearic acid is a mixture of stearic acid with palmitic and myristic acid.

How is stearic acid used?
Stearic acid is mainly used in the production of detergents, soaps, and cosmetics such as shampoos and shaving cream products. Soaps are not made directly from stearic acid, but indirectly by saponification of triglycerides consisting of stearic acid esters.
What contains stearic acid?
Fats rich in stearic acid include cocoa butter (typically consumed as chocolate), mutton tallow, beef tallow, lard, and butter. In meat (beef, pork, lamb, veal), stearic acid ranges from approximately 9% to 16% of total fat (Table 2). In lean ground beef (95% lean, 5% fat), stearic acid makes up 16% of total fat.
What are the steps of fatty acid oxidation?
1) Dehydrogenation catalyzed by acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, which removes two hydrogens between carbons 2 and 3. 2) Hydration catalyzed by enoyl-CoA hydratase, which adds water across the double bond. 3) Dehydrogenation catalyzed by 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, which generates NADH.
What is the process called in which fat is metabolized?
Lipolysis. To obtain energy from fat, triglycerides must first be broken down by hydrolysis into their two principal components, fatty acids and glycerol. This process, called lipolysis, takes place in the cytoplasm. The resulting fatty acids are oxidized by β-oxidation into acetyl CoA, which is used by the Krebs cycle …
What is the main source of stearic acid?
Major food sources of stearic acid for adults are meat/ poultry/fish, grain products, and milk/milk products (Table 1). Fats rich in stearic acid include cocoa butter (typically consumed as chocolate), mutton tallow, beef tallow, lard, and butter.
What are the properties of stearic acid?
Properties of Stearic acid – C18H36O2
Stearic acid | C18H36O2 |
---|---|
Molecular Weight of Stearic acid | 284.484 g/mol |
Density of of Stearic acid | 0.9408 g/cm3 |
Melting Point of Stearic acid | 69.3 °C |
Boiling point of Stearic acid | 361 °C |
What is the pH of stearic acid?
Since the pH of stearic acid is 5.5 and the melting point is 57.23°C, and the inlet temperature of the fluidized bed granulator could be as high as 70°C, a preliminary study was initiated to determine the tolerance of L.
What is another name for stearic acid?
stearic acid, also called Octadecanoic Acid, one of the most common long-chain fatty acids, found in combined form in natural animal and vegetable fats.