Arachidic acid

Arachidic acid, or eicosanoic acid, is a saturated fatty acid with 20 carbon atoms. It occurs in some plant oils and animal fats.

Fatty acid: A fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with a hydrocarbon chain, found in fats and other lipids. Arachidic acid is one member of this broad class of molecules.
Peanut oil: Peanut oil is an edible vegetable oil extracted from peanut seeds. It contains arachidic acid among its minor fatty-acid components.
Melting point: Melting point is the temperature at which a solid changes into a liquid at a specified pressure. Arachidic acid’s long, straight saturated chains pack efficiently and give it a relatively high melting point.
Stearic acid: Stearic acid is a saturated fatty acid with 18 carbon atoms. It is a common saturated-fatty-acid neighbor with a chain two carbons shorter.
Saturated fat: Saturated fat contains fatty acid chains with no carbon–carbon double bonds. Arachidic acid’s chain has no double bonds, the defining feature of saturation.
Cocoa butter: Cocoa butter is the edible fat obtained from cocoa beans, valued for its characteristic melting behavior. Arachidic acid is one of the fatty acids found in this plant fat.
Fatty acid beta-oxidation: Fatty acid beta-oxidation is a metabolic pathway that breaks fatty acyl chains into two-carbon acetyl-CoA units. Cells can degrade arachidic acid through repeated rounds of this pathway.
Behenic acid: Behenic acid is a saturated fatty acid with 22 carbon atoms. It shares arachidic acid’s saturation but has two additional carbons.
Carboxylic acid: A carboxylic acid is an organic compound containing a carbonyl and hydroxyl group bonded as –COOH. Its terminal carboxyl group gives arachidic acid its acid properties.
Corn oil: Corn oil is an edible vegetable oil extracted from the germ of maize kernels. Its fatty-acid profile includes a small amount of arachidic acid.

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