Punicic acid (also called trichosanic acid) is a

polyunsaturated fatty acid Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are fatty acids that contain more than one double bond in their backbone. This class includes many important compounds, such as essential fatty acids and those that give drying oils their characteristic proper ...

, 18:3 ''cis''-9, ''trans''-11, ''cis''-13. It is named for the

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

, (''Punica granatum''), and is obtained from pomegranate seed oil. It has also been found in the seed oils of

snake gourd ''Trichosanthes cucumerina'' is a tropical or subtropical vine. Its variety ''T. cucumerina'' var. ''anguina'' raised for its strikingly long fruit. In Asia, it is eaten immature as a vegetable much like the summer squash and in Africa, the red ...

. Punicic acid is a conjugated linolenic acid or CLnA; i.e. it has three

conjugated double bonds In theoretical chemistry, a conjugated system is a system of connected p-orbitals with delocalized electrons in a molecule, which in general lowers the overall energy of the molecule and increases stability. It is conventionally represented as ...

. It is chemically similar to the

conjugated linoleic acid Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) are a family of isomers of linoleic acid. In principle, 28 isomers are possible. CLA is found mostly in the meat and dairy products derived from ruminants. The two C=C double bonds are conjugated (i.e., separated ...

s, or CLA, which have two. It has also been classified as an "n-5" or "omega-5" polyunsaturated fatty acid. In lab rats, punicic acid was converted to the CLA

rumenic acid Rumenic acid, also known as bovinic acid, is a conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) found in the fat of ruminants and in dairy products. It is an omega-7 trans fatty acid. Its lipid shorthand name is cis-9, trans-11 18:2 acid. The name was proposed b ...

(9Z11E-CLA). ''In vitro'', it shows anti-invasive activity against prostate cancer cells. OLETF rats—a strain which becomes obese—remained relatively lean when punicic acid was added to their feed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punicic Acid Fatty acids Alkenoic acids Polyenes

See also

References