Lipids in Meat and Seafood

Lipids are one of the key macromolecules of life and play crucial and transversal biological roles in all live organisms: they are the major component of cellular membranes; are important fuel molecules; one of the main means of energy storage; are present in important signal transduction pathways; are precursors for hormonal synthesis, transport and also contribute towards the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, etc. Apart from the nutritional, physiological and regulatory function, lipids are directly or indirectly (as vehicle) linked to fl avors and aromatic substances. There is a general agreement that lipids are critical for food, food processing and in cooking (Lichtenstein et al. 1998; Berg et al. 2007; Schmid 2010).