Myristic acid
Myristic acid is a common saturated fatty acid with the molecular formula CH312COOH. Its salts and esters are commonly referred to as myristates or tetradecanoates. It is named after the binomial name for nutmeg, from which it was first isolated in 1841 by Lyon Playfair.Occurrence
has 75% trimyristin, the triglyceride of myristic acid. Besides nutmeg, myristic acid is also found in palm kernel oil, coconut oil, butterfat, 8–14% of bovine milk, and 8.6% of breast milk as well as being a minor component of many other animal fats. It is also found in spermaceti, the crystallized fraction of oil from the sperm whale. It is also found in the rhizomes of the Iris, including Orris root. It also comprises 14.49% of the fats from the fruit of the Durian species Durio graveolens.Uses
Myristic acid is commonly added to the N-terminus glycine in receptor-associated kinases to confer the membrane localization of the enzyme. The myristic acid has a sufficiently high hydrophobicity to become incorporated into the fatty acyl core of the phospholipid bilayer of the plasma membrane of the eukaryotic cell. In this way, myristic acid acts as a lipid anchor in biomembranes.
Various "human epidemiological studies have shown that myristic acid and lauric acid were the saturated fatty acids most strongly related to the average serum cholesterol concentrations in humans", meaning they were positively correlated with higher cholesterol levels as well as raising triglycerides in plasma by some 20% increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease, although some research points to myristic acid's positive effects on HDL cholesterol and hence improving HDL to total cholesterol ratio.
Reduction of myristic acid yields myristyl aldehyde and myristyl alcohol.
