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How are fatty acids connected to fats?

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oxidation of alcohols — carboxylic acid Alcohols may be oxidized to give aldehydes, ketones, and carboxylic acids. The oxidation of organic compounds generally increases the number of bonds from carbon to oxygen, and it may decrease the number of bonds to hydrogen.

Fatty acids are connected to fats primarily through the formation of triglycerides, which are the major lipids stored in the body and found in food.12

In this chemical process, fatty acids—which are carboxylic acids consisting of a hydrocarbon chain with a terminal carboxyl group—are linked to a glycerol backbone. Specifically, one molecule of glycerol combines with three fatty acid molecules to form an ester bond at each of the three hydroxyl (OH) groups of the glycerol.213

While a simple triglyceride contains three identical fatty acids, most naturally occurring fats are mixed triglycerides, meaning they contain two or more different types of fatty acids. Partial esters, known as monoglycerides and diglycerides, also exist but are typically found only as products of the partial hydrolysis of triglycerides.13