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n-9 fatty acids (popularly referred to as ?-9 fatty acids or omega-9 fatty acids) are a family of unsaturated fatty acids which have in common a carbon–carbon double bond in the n-9 position; that is, the ninth bond from the end of the fatty acid.
Background
Some n-9s are common components of animal fat and vegetable oil. Two n-9 fatty acids important in industry are:
Unlike n-3 and n-6 fatty acids, n-9 fatty acids are not classed as essential fatty acids (EFA). This is both because they can be created by the human body from unsaturated fat, and are therefore not essential in the diet, and because the lack of an n-6 double bond keeps them from participating in the reactions that form the eicosanoids.
Under severe conditions of EFA deprivation, mammals will elongate and desaturate oleic acid to make mead acid, (20:3, n-9).[1] This also occurs to a lesser extent in vegetarians and semi-vegetarians.[2]
List of n-9 fatty acids
See also
References
Additional references
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