Fatty alcohol
Fatty alcohols are aliphatic alcohols derived from natural fats and oils, originating in plants, but also synthesized in animals and algae. Their significance in nutrition and health has historically been overlooked, and is only now being realized, as they are closely related to fatty acids, including the well-documented omega 3 fatty acids. The other counterparts are fatty aldehydes. Fatty alcohols usually have even number of carbon atoms. Production from fatty acids yields normal-chain alcohols—the alcohol group (-OH) attaches to the terminal carbon. Other processing can yield iso-alcohols—where the alcohol attaches to a carbon in the interior of the carbon chain.
Current and future uses
The smaller molecules are used in cosmetics and food, and as industrial solvents. Some of the larger molecules are simply seen as biofuels, but little research has been done until 2006 regarding many of these, and they have been shown to be have anticancer, antiviral, antifungal, anti-HIV properties, for potential use in medicine and health supplements.
Due to their amphipathic nature, fatty alcohols behave as nonionic surfactants. They find use as emulsifiers, emollients and thickeners in cosmetics and food industry.
Fatty alcohols are a common component of waxes, mostly as esters with fatty acids but also as alcohols themselves.
Nutrition
Very long chain fatty alcohols (VLCFA), obtained from plant waxes and beeswax have been reported to lower plasma cholesterol in humans. They can be found in unrefined cereal grains, beeswax, and many plant-derived foods. Reports suggest that 5–20 mg per day of mixed C24–C34 alcohols, including octacosanol and triacontanol, lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by 21%–29% and raise high-density lipoprotein cholesterol by 8%–15%. Wax esters are hydrolyzed by a bile salt–dependent pancreatic carboxyl esterase, releasing long chain alcohols and fatty acids that are absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. Studies of fatty alcohol metabolism in fibroblasts suggest that very long chain fatty alcohols, fatty aldehydes, and fatty acids are reversibly inter-converted in a fatty alcohol cycle. The metabolism of these compounds is impaired in several inherited human peroxisomal disorders, including adrenoleukodystrophy and Sjögren-Larsson syndrome. Concentrations of VLCFA in blood plasma increase during fasting and when children are placed a ketogenic diet to suppress seizures.
