ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the study and utilisation of plant lipids, especially acyl lipids, and set developments in a historical context. Relatively little work of note was done on plant lipids until the nineteenth century, when many important contributions were made by French and Germanic chemists in particular. Plant lipid research was about to enter the next stage of its development, which was characterised in particular by several key advances in analytical methodology and instrumentation. Most of the really important developments in advancing the chemical study of plant lipids came after World War II. Lipids were originally defined according to chemical criteria, namely, as fatty acids and their derivatives. For plant lipid researchers, one of the most useful methods is argentation-TLC, whereby silver nitrate is added to the silica. The molecular genetics revolution also spawned a huge interest in the possibilities regarding the manipulation of plant lipid metabolism for commercial purposes.
