Erucic acid
Erucic acid
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Erucic acid

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Erucic acid

Erucic acid (EA) is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid, denoted 22:1ω9. It has the chemical formula: CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)11CO2H. It is prevalent in wallflower seed and other plants in the family Brassicaceae, with a reported content of 20 to 54% in high erucic acid rapeseed oil and 42% in mustard oil. Erucic acid is also known as cis-13-docosenoic acid and the trans isomer is known as brassidic acid. Cetoleic acid is a positional isomer of erucic acid.

Erucic acid is a precursor to brassylic acid, a C13-dicarboxylic acid that is used to make specialty polyamides and polyesters. The conversion entails ozonolysis, which selectively cleaves the C=C bond in erucic acid:

Amides of erucic acid are used as lubricants and surfactants.

Hydrogenation of erucic acid gives behenyl alcohol, CH3(CH2)21OH, a pour point depressant (enabling liquids to flow at a lower temperature), and which can be made into silver behenate, for use in photography.

The name erucic means "of or pertaining to Eruca", which is a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. The genus includes colewort (E. sativa), which today is better known as arugula (US) or rocket (UK).

Erucic acid is produced naturally (together with other fatty acids) across a great range of green plants, but especially so in members of the genus Brassica. For industrial purposes and production of erucic acid, rapeseed is used; for food purposes a 'low-erucic acid rapeseed' (LEAR) has been developed (canola), which contains fats derived from oleic acid instead of erucic acid.

Erucic acid is produced by elongation of oleic acid via oleoyl-coenzyme A and malonyl-CoA. Erucic acid is broken down into shorter-chain fatty acids in the human liver by the long-chain acyl CoA dehydrogenase enzyme.

As early as 1977, the use of rapeseed oil was deemed safe as a food additive in the United States.

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