Main dietary fatty acids | Knowledge for policy

Health Promotion Knowledge Gateway

Dietary Fats

Main dietary fatty acids

Based on Present Knowledge in Nutrition 2012, EFSA 2010

Saturated fatty acids
Type/ Definition	Carbon atoms	Common name	Systematic name
SFA 'fatty acids with no double bonds' (EU 2011)	4	Butyric acid	Butanoic acid
	6	Caproic acid	Hexanoic acid
	8	Caprylic acid	Octanoic acid
	10	Capric/Caprinic acid	Decanoic acid
	12	Lauric acid	Dodecanoic acid
	14	Myristic acid	Tetradecanoic acid
	16	Palmitic acid	Hexadecanoic acid
	18	Stearic acid	Octadecanoic acid

Type/ Definition

Carbon atoms

Common name

Systematic name

MUFA

'fatty acids with one cis double bond' (EU 2011)

16

Palmitoleic acid

Hexadecenoic acid

18

Oleic acid

Octadecenoic acid

Polyunsaturated fatty acids
Type/ Definition	Carbon atoms	Common name	Systematic name
PUFA 'fatty acids with two or more cis, cis-methylene interrupted double bonds' (EU 2011)	18	Linoleic(LA) or omega-6 acid	Octadecadienoic acid
	18	α-linolenic (ALA) or omega-3 acid	(all-cis-9,12,15) Octadecatrienoic acid
	18	γ-linolenic^aacid	(all-cis-6,9,12) Octadecatrienoic acid
	20	Arachidonic^aacid	Eicosatetraenoic acid
	20	Eicosapentaenoic (EPA)^bacid
	22	Docosapentanoic (DPA)^bacid
	22	Docosahexaenoic (DHA)^bacid

trans-fatty acids
Carbon atoms	Common name	Systematic name
TFA 'fatty acids with at least one non-conjugated (namely interrupted by at least one methylene group) carbon-carbon double bond in the trans configuration' (EU 2011)	18	Elaidic acid	(trans-9)Octadecenoic acid
	18	Vaccenic acid	(trans-11) Octadecenoic acid
	18	Rumenic acid	(Cis-9, trans-11) Octadecadienoic acid

^a omega-6, ^bomega-3

Originally Published \| Last Updated	25 Nov 2020 \| 03 Sep 2021
Knowledge service \| Metadata	Health Promotion Knowledge Gateway \|Risk factors of non-communicable diseases \|Fats
Digital Europa Thesaurus (DET)	health policy

Was this page useful?