Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at 12:02PM
Drew Wolfe

Linoleic acid

"Linoleic acid (LA) is an unsaturated n-6 fatty acid. It is a colorless liquid at room temperature. In physiological literature, it has a lipid number of 18:2(n-6). Chemically, linoleic acid is a carboxylic acid with an 18-carbon chain and two cis double bonds; the first double bond is located at the sixth carbon from the methyl end." 

"Linoleic acid belongs to one of the two families of essential fatty acids that humans and animals must ingest for good health, because the body requires them for various biological processes, but cannot synthesize them from other food components." 

"The word "linoleic" comes from the Greek word linon (flax). Oleic means "of, relating to, or derived from oil or olive" or "of or relating to oleic acid" because saturating the n-6 double bond produces oleic acid."

Article originally appeared on WorldWideWolfe II (http://drewhwolfe.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.