Define RQ. What is itsvalue for fats?

Respiratoryquotient (RQ) or respiratory ratio can be defined as theratio of the volume of CO₂ evolvedto the volume of O₂consumed during respiration. The value of respiratory quotientdepends on the type of respiratory substrate. Its value is one forcarbohydrates. However, it is always less than one for fats as fatsconsume more oxygen for respiration than carbohydrates.

Itcan be illustrated through the example of tripalmitin fatty acid,which consumes 145 molecules of O₂for respiration while 102 molecules of CO₂are evolved. The RQ value for tripalmitin is 0.7.