Lauric acid is a medium-chain fatty acid, coconut oil is a medium-chain triglyceride

• Main Author: Dayrit, Fabian M
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2014
• Subjects: lauric acid; coconut oil; medium-chain fatty acid; medium-chain triglyceride; Biochemistry; Chemistry
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/chemistry-faculty-pubs/107; https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/40512139/Lauric_acid_is_a_mediuam_chain_fatty_acid.pdf?1448908890=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3Dlauric_acid.pdf&Expires=1595834905&Signature=O5iMzMA5JRKFy~z9vu2wk5zAvdJ5blfd-8S-wYeoFMu1Xid5kDUlTaQCB5yUdw-WjLl7B0RZG3Cbx1XX8NmAxZr6CudXNkgHZhE4NTot6YUAEyu~D9xh0odLruW7sMzU-Z5kknu-1VRn-hk0d6xw9drjbFfLsbny~-Bec2r2VbmqoD4YUkxrE9coiyT-Xh9dhTiWxeEnQoVKCAy9oOD3ybgXsucHqppheCF9ukw5SO20Y947hbOJjY1k8wQC2~pZ6BofJb5O3LC8C0cTZz-jx0BWVFn1DnVUgBaN~mNwHi8-XliAIWDJi7Nqf7Yjof2nrBKZvX2DjRMr-raQSV9lTw__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Based on biochemical and nutritional evidences, lauric acid (C12) has distinctive properties that are not shared with longer-chain saturated fatty acids: myristic acid (C14), palmitic acid (C16), and stearic acid (C18). Because medium-chain saturated fatty acids C6 to C12 show sufficiently different metabolic and physiological properties from long-chain saturated fatty acids C14 to C18, the term “saturated fatty acid” does not convey nutritionally accurate information and chain length should be specified as “medium-chain” and “long-chain”. Many of the properties of coconut oil can be accounted for by the properties of lauric acid. Lauric acid makes up approximately half of the fatty acids in coconut oil; likewise, medium-chain triglycerides which contain lauric acid account for approximately half of all triacylglycerides in coconut oil. It is, therefore, justified to classify coconut oil as a medium-chain vegetable oil. There is no link between lauric acid and high cholesterol.