Glyceride

Glycerides, also known as acylglycerols, are esters formed from glycerol and fatty acids, and are generally very hydrophobic.

[1] Glycerol has three hydroxyl functional groups, which can be esterified with one, two, or three fatty acids to form mono-, di-, and triglycerides.

[2] These structures vary in their fatty acid alkyl groups as they can contain different carbon numbers, different degrees of unsaturation, and different configurations and positions of olefins.

[1] Vegetable oils and animal fats contain mostly triglycerides, but are broken down by natural enzymes (lipases) into mono and diglycerides and free fatty acids and glycerol.

The most common forms of acylglycerol are triglycerides, having high caloric value and usually yielding twice as much energy per gram as carbohydrate.