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Lauric acid (systematically: dodecanoic acid), a saturated fatty acid, is a white, powdery solid with a faint odor of bay oil or soap.
Occurrence
Lauric acid is the main acid in coconut oil and in palm kernel oil (not to be confused with palm oil), and is believed to have antimicrobial properties.[1][2][3] It is also found in human milk (5.8% of total fat), cow's milk (2.2%), and goat's milk (4.5%).[citation needed]
Uses
Lauric acid is inexpensive, has a long shelf-life, and is non-toxic and safe to handle. Thus, it is often used in laboratory investigations of melting point depression. Lauric acid is a solid at room temperature but melts easily in boiling water, so liquid lauric acid can be treated with various solutes and used to determine their molecular masses.[citation needed]
Lauric acid is able to raise metabolism, believed to be due to its activation of 20% of thyroidal hormones, which otherwise lie dormant.[citation needed] This is supposed from lauric acid's release of enzymes in the intestinal tract which activate the thyroid.[citation needed] This could account the metabolism-raising properties of coconut oil.
References
- ^ Hoffman KL, Han IY, Dawson PL (June 2001). "Antimicrobial effects of corn zein films impregnated with nisin, lauric acid, and EDTA". J. Food Prot. 64 (6): 885–9. PMID 11403145.
- ^ Ouattar B, Simard RE, Piett G, Bégin A, Holley RA (December 2000). "Inhibition of surface spoilage bacteria in processed meats by application of antimicrobial films prepared with chitosan". Int. J. Food Microbiol. 62 (1-2): 139–48. doi:10.1016/S0168-1605(00)00407-4. PMID 11139014.
- ^ PL Dawson, GD Carl, JC Acton, and IY Han. "Effect of lauric acid and nisin-impregnated soy-based films on the growth of Listeria monocytogenes on turkey bologna" (Free full text) 81 (5): 721–726. PMID 12033424.
Further reading
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