Essential fatty acid | chemical compound | Britannica (original) (raw)
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carboxylic acids
In carboxylic acid: Unsaturated aliphatic acids …diet and, therefore, are called essential fatty acids. (4) Many unsaturated fatty acids are liquids at room temperature, in contrast to the saturated stearic (C18) and arachidic (C20) acids, which are solids. The reason is that the regular nature of the saturated hydrocarbon chains allows the molecules in the solid… Read More
fats and oils
In human nutrition: Fats and oils …group of fatty acids is essential in the diet. They occur in body structures, especially the different membranes inside and around cells, and cannot be synthesized in the body from other fats. Linoleic acid is the most important of these fatty acids because it is convertible to other essential fatty… Read More
nutritional disease
In nutritional disease: Essential fatty acids There is also a minimum requirement for fat—not for total fat, but only for the fatty acids linoleic acid (a so-called omega-6 fatty acid) and alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid). Deficiencies of these two fatty acids have been seen in hospitalized… Read More
triglycerides
In human nutrition: Triglycerides …acid); these are known as essential fatty acids because they are required in small amounts in the diet. The omega designations (also referred to as n-3 and n-6) indicate the location of the first double bond from the methyl end of the fatty acid. Other fatty acids can be synthesized… Read More
