Tributyrin is a triglyceride naturally present in butter.

It is an ester composed of butyric acid and glycerol.

It is present in butter and can be described as a liquid fat with an acrid taste.

Tributyrin is also used in microbiological laboratories to identify the bacterium Moraxella catarrhalis.

[2] Tributyrin is a stable and rapidly absorbed prodrug of butyric acid which enhances antiproliferative effects of dihydroxycholecalciferol in human colon cancer cells.