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Asked by to Daren on 17 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
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Daren Fearon answered on 17 Jun 2014:
Fat is made up of a type of cell called adipocytes. These cells are much bigger than the molecules we have to crystallise to solve their structure. We can use much simpler techniques like microscopy so see the structure of fat cells. If we wanted to solve the structure of proteins inside the fat cells, then crystallography can help with that!
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Lynne commented on :
We can grow crystals of some fat molecules that you find in food and see the structure of them. For instance in chocolate, one of the big fat contents is cocoa butter. We know that there are six different crystals of cocoa butter, and we want only one of these in the chocolate we eat! Four melt below room temperature, one at your body temperature (the one you want for that melt in the mouth sensation!) and one that melts higher than your body temperature. Chocolate goes off if you leave it a long time (goes white on the surface) and turns into this high melting point one which no longer melts in your mouth. The same thing happens if it melts and then goes hard again and its called blooming. So when they make chocolate they use a process called tempering to make sure they get the right stuff for you to eat! So using crystals of fat molecules can help us to understand your food! There are lots of different types of fat though and some are easier to grow crystals of than others.