Respiratory quotient (RQ) is the ratio of the volume of carbon dioxide produced to the volume of oxygen consumed in respiration over a period of time.
RQ = $ \frac{\text{Volume of } CO_2\, \text{evolved}}{\text{Volume of} O_2 \, \text{absorbed}}$
RQ is less than one when respiration is aerobic but the respiratory substrate is either fat or protein. RQ is about 0.7 for most of the common fats. It occurs during germination of fatty seeds.
$\underset{\text{tripalmitin}}{2(C_{51} H_{98} O_6)} + 145O_2 \rightarrow 102 CO_2 + 98H_2 O$
$RQ = 102CO_2/145O_2= 0.7$
Thus, when tripalmitin is used as a respiratory substrate, the value of RQ is 0.7.