99
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
C. Egbuna, G. Dable-Tupas (eds.), Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42319-3_6
Chapter 6
Fats and Oils as Sources of Bioactive
Molecules
Ajay Kumar, Prem Prakash Kushwaha, Seshu Varddhan,
Mohammad Waseem, Hadiya Husain, Atul Kumar Singh,
and Shashank Kumar
6.1 Introduction
A biomolecule or biological molecule can be regarded as molecules that are present
in organisms to carry out biological process such as development, cell division, and
morphogenesis (Horton et al. 1996). A large number of biomolecules are present
inside the living cells. These comprise amino acids, proteins, enzymes, monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides, fatty acids, fats and oils, nucleotides,
nucleic acids, histones, acidic proteins, chlorophyll, hemoglobin and several other
constituents of cell structure (Horton et al. 1996). These biomolecules are complex
organic molecules in nature. They form the basic structural constituents of living
cells. Among biomolecules, nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) carry out distinctive
function of containing genetic code of an organism which is the sequence of nucleotides that controls the sequence of amino acids constituting a protein. There are 20
different amino acids that can be found in structure of a protein. Proteins perform
various tasks inside a cell such as transporters, involve in transport of nutrients and
other molecules, and as enzymes to catalyze chemical reactions which takes place
A. Kumar
Department of Plant Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, Punjab, India
P. P. Kushwaha · A. K. Singh · S. Kumar (*)
Department of Biochemistry and Microbial Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda,
Punjab, India
S. Varddhan
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India
M. Waseem
Department of Biochemistry, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh,
India
H. Husain
Section of Genetics, Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh,
Uttar Pradesh, India
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
C. Egbuna, G. Dable-Tupas (eds.), Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42319-3_6
Chapter 6
Fats and Oils as Sources of Bioactive
Molecules
Ajay Kumar, Prem Prakash Kushwaha, Seshu Varddhan,
Mohammad Waseem, Hadiya Husain, Atul Kumar Singh,
and Shashank Kumar
6.1 Introduction
A biomolecule or biological molecule can be regarded as molecules that are present
in organisms to carry out biological process such as development, cell division, and
morphogenesis (Horton et al. 1996). A large number of biomolecules are present
inside the living cells. These comprise amino acids, proteins, enzymes, monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides, fatty acids, fats and oils, nucleotides,
nucleic acids, histones, acidic proteins, chlorophyll, hemoglobin and several other
constituents of cell structure (Horton et al. 1996). These biomolecules are complex
organic molecules in nature. They form the basic structural constituents of living
cells. Among biomolecules, nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) carry out distinctive
function of containing genetic code of an organism which is the sequence of nucleotides that controls the sequence of amino acids constituting a protein. There are 20
different amino acids that can be found in structure of a protein. Proteins perform
various tasks inside a cell such as transporters, involve in transport of nutrients and
other molecules, and as enzymes to catalyze chemical reactions which takes place
A. Kumar
Department of Plant Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, Punjab, India
P. P. Kushwaha · A. K. Singh · S. Kumar (*)
Department of Biochemistry and Microbial Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda,
Punjab, India
S. Varddhan
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India
M. Waseem
Department of Biochemistry, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh,
India
H. Husain
Section of Genetics, Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh,
Uttar Pradesh, India