Very comprehensive nutritional data resource

A VERY extensive nutritional data site - almost a tempatation of too much information for those with any tendancy to want to know everyting!

BUT a great way to answer specific questions - settle discussions!

A potentially hugely useful site.

RB

http://www.nutritiondata.com/fatty-acids.html


Abstract


Fatty Acids

Nutritionists commonly classify dietary fat as either saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated, based on the number of double bonds that exist in the fat's molecular structure. For each of these three classes, there exists a large number of different chemical variations or "isomers".

For reason of clarity, ND refers to each fatty acid isomer by it's numerical designation. The first number of this designation indicates how many carbon atoms are in the fatty acid molecule, and the number after the colon indicates the number of double bonds. Omega-3 and omega-6 isomers include "n-3" and "n-6" markings, and the letters c and t are used to indicate whether the double bonds are in cis or trans configurations.

Many fatty acids also have systematic (non-numerical) names, as well as common names, which leads to some confusion in identifying them. To help make it easier to understand, we've prepared the table below, which puts all of the equivalent names together in one place.
Fatty Acid Equivalent Names
Type Isomer Systematic Name Common Name
Saturated Fats 4:0 butanoic acid butyric acid
6:0 hexanoic acid caproic acid
8:0 octanoic acid caprylic acid
10:0 decanoic acid capric acid
12:0 dodecanoic acid lauric acid
13:0 tridecanoic acid
14:0 tetradecanoic acid myristic acid
15:0 pentadecanoic acid
16:0 hexadecanoic acid palmitic acid
17:0 heptadecanoic acid margaric acid
18:0 octadecanoic acid stearic acid
19:0 nonadecanoic acid
20:0 eicosanoic acid arachidic acid
22:0 docosanoic acid behenic acid
24:0 tetracosanoic acid lignoceric acid
Type Isomer Systematic Name Common Name
Monounsaturated Fats 14:1 tetradecenoic acid myristoleic acid
15:1 pentadecenoic acid
16:1 undifferentiated hexadecenoic acid palmitoleic acid
16:1 c
16:1 t
17:1 heptadecenoic acid
18:1 undifferentiated octadecenoic acid oleic acid
18:1 c
18:1 t
20:1 eicosenoic acid gadoleic acid
22:1 undifferentiated docosenoic acid erucic acid
22:1 c
22:1 t
24:1 c cis-tetracosenoic acid nervonic acid
Type Isomer Systematic Name Common Name
Polyunsaturated Fats 16:2 undifferentiated hexadecadienoic acid
18:2 undifferentiated octadecadienoic acid linoleic acid
18:2 n-6 c,c
18:2 c,t
18:2 t,c
18:2 t,t
18:2 i
18:2 t not further defined
18:3 octadecatrienoic acid linolenic acid
18:3 n-3 c,c,c alpha-linolenic acid
18:3 n-6 c,c,c gamma-linolenic acid
18:4 undifferentiated octadecatetraenoic acid parinaric acid
20:2 n-6 c,c eicosadienoic acid
20:3 undifferentiated eicosatrienoic acid
20:3 n-3
20:3 n-6
20:4 undifferentiated eicosatetraenoic acid arachidonic acid
20:4 n-3
20:4 n-6
20:5 n-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) timnodonic acid
22:2 docosadienoic acid brassic acid
22:5 n-3 docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) clupanodonic acid
22:6 n-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)