Punicic acid

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 has also been 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 also been classified as an "n-5" or "omega-5" polyunsaturated fatty acid. In lab rats, punicic acid was converted to the CLA rumenic acid (9Z11E-CLA). In vitro, it shows anti-invasive activity against prostate cancer cells. OLETF rats&mdash;a strain which becomes obese&mdash;remained relatively lean when punicic acid was added to their feed.