A component of foods. Fats are mixtures of components and are operationally defined as the fraction of the food that is soluble in organic solvents such as ether, hexane, chloroform. The amount of fat extracted depends on the solvent used and the extraction conditions used, so the reported fat content of a sample can vary slightly with the analytical procedure. The fats extracted from fish are liquid at typical room temperatures and are often referred to as oils. Fats are also called lipids. The main components of depot fats are triglycerides (triacylgycerols), fatty acid esters of glycerol.