Formula C18H30O2 | Molar mass 278.43 g/mol | |
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Punicic acid (also called trichosanic acid) is a polyunsaturated fatty acid, 18:3 cis-9, trans-11, cis-13. It is named for the pomegranate, (Punica granatum), and is obtained from pomegranate seed oil. It is also found in the seed oils of snake gourd.
Punicic acid is a conjugated linolenic acid or CLnA; i.e. it has three conjugated double bonds. It is chemically similar to the conjugated linoleic acids, or CLA, which have two. It has been erroneous classified as "n-5" or "omega-5" polyunsaturated fatty acid because the last double bond is located at 5 carbon from the terminal "omega" carbon, however the "n-x" notation can only be applied to all cis, methylene interrupted polyunsaturated fatty acids. In lab rats, it was found that punicic acid was converted to the CLA rumenic acid (9Z11E-CLA). In vitro, it shows anticancer activity against prostate cancer cells. OLETF rats—a strain which becomes obese—remained relatively lean when punicic acid was added to their feed.