Occurrence and Production
Palmitic acid mainly occurs as its ester in triglycerides (fats), especially palm oil but also tallow. The cetyl ester of palmitic acid (cetyl palmitate) occurs in spermaceti. It was discovered by Edmond Frémy in 1840, in saponified palm oil. Butter, cheese, milk and meat also contain this fatty acid.
Palmitic acid is prepared by treating fats and oils with water at a high pressure and temperature (above 200 °C), leading to the hydrolysis of triglycerides. The resulting mixture is then distilled.
Read more about this topic: Palmitic Acid
Famous quotes containing the words occurrence and/or production:
“One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted; and a community is infinitely more brutalised by the habitual employment of punishment than it is by the occasional occurrence of crime.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“The myth of unlimited production brings war in its train as inevitably as clouds announce a storm.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)