Abstract
Triacylglycerols (TAGs), which are composed of three fatty acids and a glycerol, are major components of natural edible oils and fats which is an essential energy source for organisms. The physical and nutritional properties of oils and fats are affected by not only the fatty acid composition but also TAG composition. The binding position of fatty acid on the glycerol backbone is not random but dependent on the origin of the oils and fats. Although many researchers have so far studied the composition and the positional distribution of fatty acids of edible oils and fats to understand the properties of them, these data not show the compositions of intact TAGs. Analyses of TAG molecular species by GC and HPLC have also been developed and they have revealed the concrete compositions of TAGs in edible oils and fats. Recently, the separation methods for not only TAG positional isomer but also TAG enantiomers have been reported. These methods will enable the elucidation of the physical and nutritional properties due to the TAG structure in future.
