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Concept
Palmitic acid
Summary
Palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature) is a fatty acid with a 16-carbon chain. It is the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals, plants and microorganisms. Its chemical formula is , and its C:D (the total number of carbon atoms to the number of carbon–carbon double bonds) is 16:0. It is a major component of the oil from the fruit of oil palms (palm oil), making up to 44% of total fats. Meats, cheeses, butter, and other dairy products also contain palmitic acid, amounting to 50–60% of total fats. Palmitates are the salts and esters of palmitic acid. The palmitate anion is the observed form of palmitic acid at physiologic pH (7.4). Palmitic acid is the most common SFA found in plants, animals, and many microorganisms. Major sources of C16:0 are palm oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, and milk fat.
Palmitic acid was discovered by Edmond Frémy in 1840, in saponified palm oil. This remains the primary industrial route for its production, with the triglycerides (fats) in palm oil being hydrolysed by high-temperature water, and the resulting mixture fractionally distilled.
Palmitic acid is produced by a wide range of other plants and organisms, typically at low levels. It is present in butter, cheese, milk, and meat, as well as cocoa butter, olive oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil. Karukas contain 44.90% palmitic acid. The cetyl ester of palmitic acid (cetyl palmitate) occurs in spermaceti.
Palmitic acid is the first fatty acid produced during fatty acid synthesis and is the precursor to longer fatty acids. As a consequence, palmitic acid is a major body component of animals. In humans, one analysis found it to make up 21–30% (molar) of human depot fat, and it is a major, but highly variable, lipid component of human breast milk. Palmitate negatively feeds back on acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), which is responsible for converting acetyl-CoA to malonyl-CoA, which in turn is used to add to the growing acyl chain, thus preventing further palmitate generation.
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