Categories of Fats and Oils

You already know that fatty acids are the lipid-building blocks. It is customary to divide  the fatty acids into different groups, e.g.,  saturated and unsaturated ones.  Saturated  meaning they have as many hydrogens bonded to their carbons as possible and unsaturated meaning with one or more double bonds connecting their carbons, hence, fewer hydrogens. This  particular division  is useful in food =technology because saturated fatty acids have a much higher melting point than the unsaturated ones, and the ratio of these fatty acids is of major importance for the physical properties of a fat or oil.