Chemical structure of alpha-linolenic acid

Linolenic acid is an 18-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acid with three double bonds. The chemical formula for this molecule is CH₃(CH₂CH=CH)₃(CH₂)₇COOH.^[1] Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... General Name, Symbol, Number carbon, C, 6 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 14, 2, p Appearance black (graphite) colorless (diamond) Atomic mass 12. ... In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid (or organic acid), often with a long aliphatic tail (long chains), either saturated or unsaturated. ...

The isomer called α(alpha)-linolenic acid (n-3) (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid, is essential for all mammals. Particularly rich food sources are chia and flaxseed. It is also found in various oils, namely mustard oil, flaxseed oil, canola (rapeseed) oil, soybean oil, pumpkin seed oil, perilla seed oil, and walnut oil. Various studies have shown that alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is related to lower risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanism of this is still unclear. It is postulated that either ALA after conversion to longer chain fatty acids DHA and EPA or by itself can reduce cardiac arrythmias. However, some studies have also linked α-linolenic acid with rapidly progressing prostate cancer and macular degeneration. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Binomial name Salvia hispanica L. Chia (Salvia hispanica) is a plant of the genus Salvia of the mint family. ... Binomial name Linum usitatissimum L. Linnaeus, 17?? Common flax (also known as linseed) is a member of the Linaceae family, which includes about 150 plant species widely distributed around the world. ... Perilla oil is obtained from the seeds of perennial herbs of the genus Perilla, usually Perilla frutescens. ... Docosahexaenoic acid (commonly known as DHA; 22:6 omega-3) is an omega-3 fatty acid. ... Eicosapentaenoic acid (more commonly known as EPA; C20H30O2, all-cis-fatty acid 20:5 omega-3) is a polyunsaturated fatty acid that acts as a precursor for prostaglandin-3, which inhibits platelet aggregation) and thromboxane-3 groups. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-07-19, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ...

Research has also suggested a major neuroprotective effect of ALA in in-vivo models of both global ischemia and KA-induced epilepsy.

The full name is all-cis-octadeca-9,12,15-trienoic acid. ^[2]

Reduction of linolenic acid yields linolenyl alcohol.

For more details on this topic, see Gamma-linolenic_acid.

Another isomer of linolenic acid is γ(gamma)-linolenic acid (n-6) (GLA), an omega-6 fatty acid which is the product of desaturation of Linoleic acid. This fatty acid is rare in food, though it is found in borage, blackcurrant, evening primrose and hemp seeds. It is sometimes taken as an oil supplement because its elongation product, di-homo-γ-linolenic acid, is an important constituent of cell membrane phospholipids in its role as precursor to the series-1 eicosonoids. The full name is all-cis-octadeca-6,9,12-trienoic acid, (18:3 n-6) Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) is an omega-6 fatty acid that exists primarily in plant fats. ... Omega-6 fatty acids are fatty acids where the term omega-6 signifies that the first double bond in the carbon backbone of the fatty acid, counting from the end opposite the acid group, occurs in the sixth carbon-carbon bond. ... Linoleic acid (C18H32O2 or CH3(CH2)4CH=CHCH2CH=CH(CH2)7COOH) is a colourless liquid. ... Binomial name Borago officinalis L. Borage (Borago officinalis) is an annual herb native to central and eastern Europe. ... Binomial name Ribes nigrum L. The blackcurrant is a temperate shrub which produces small edible berries with a high natural vitamin C content, which are very dark purple/blue in colour—almost black—hence the name. ... Evening Primrose was a television musical written in 1966 by Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman for ABC Televisions Stage 67. ... A High-altitude Electromagnetic Pulse, or HEMP, is emanated from the detonation of a single nuclear warhead several kilometers into the atmosphere. ...

References

1. ^  Bishop, Paul L. (2000). Pollution Prevention: Chapter 2 - Properties and Fates of Environmental Contaminants, instructional slides to accompany Pollution Prevention:Fundamentals and Practice, by Paul L. Bishop (ISBN 0073661473). Retrieved 2005-03-07.
2. ^  Joint Committee of International Union of Nutritoinal Sciences and IUPAC Commission on Food (2001). Lexicon of Lipid Nutrition. Pure and Applied Chemistry 73(4), 685-744. Retrieved 2005-03-07. also used here as a general reference for sources of the substances and in the existence of Linola
3. Lauritzen, Inger, Nicolas Blondeau, Catherine Heurteaux, Catherine Widmann, Georges Romey and Michel Lazdunski. (2000) Polyunsaturated fatty acids are potent neuroprotectors. The EMBO Journal, Vol. 19, No. 8 pp. 1784-1793. [3] Retrieved 6 October 2005