The key difference between palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid is that palmitic acid can cause a higher level of HDL cholesterol, whereas palmitoleic acid causes a comparatively low level of HDL cholesterol.
Palmitic acid is a type of saturated fatty acid having the chemical formula C16H32O2. Palmitoleic acid is a type of omega-7-monounsaturated fatty acid having the chemical formula CH3(CH2)5CH=CH(CH2)7COOH.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Palmitic Acid
3. What is Palmitoleic Acid
4. Palmitic Acid vs Palmitoleic Acid in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Palmitic Acid vs Palmitoleic Acid
What is Palmitic Acid?
Palmitic acid is a type of saturated fatty acid having the chemical formula C16H32O2. It is also known as hexadecanoic acid. It is the most common saturated fatty acid that occurs in animals, plants, and microorganisms. This substance mainly occurs as a component in the oil taken from the fruit of oil palms, which makes up about 44% of total fats. Moreover, food sources such as meat, cheese, butter, and other dairy products also contain palmitic acid, around 50-60% of total fats. Furthermore, palmitates can be described as the salts and esters of palmitic acid.
Figure 01: The Chemical Structure of Palmitic Acid
The molar mass of palmitic acid is 256.43 g/mol. This substance appears as white crystals. Palmitate anion can be described as the observed form of palmitic acid at pH 7.4, which is the physiological pH level.
When considering the applications of palmitic acid, it is useful as a surfactant agent to produce soap, cosmetics, industrial mold release agents, etc. The form of palmitic acid used in these applications is sodium palmitate. Sodium palmitate can be obtained through the saponification of palm oil. Moreover, its inexpensive nature makes it a good choice for the food industry to add texture and mouthfeel to processed food.
What is Palmitoleic Acid?
Palmitoleic acid is a type of omega-7-monounsaturated fatty acid having the chemical formula CH3(CH2)5CH=CH(CH2)7COOH. The molar mass of this compound is 254.41 g/mol. This compound is a common component of glycerides in human adipose tissue. We can find it in all tissues; however, it can be generally found in the liver in high concentrations. Moreover, we can produce this substance from palmitic acid using stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1.
Figure 02: The Chemical Structure of Palmitoleic Acid
According to some animal and cell culture studies, palmitoleic acid can act as an anti-inflammatory agent and improve insulin sensitivity in the liver and the skeletal muscles.
When considering the dietary sources of palmitoleic acid, it can be found in breast milk, animal fats, vegetable oils, and marine oils. There can be some botanical sources of this compound with high concentrations, ranging between 19-29%.
What is the Difference Between Palmitic Acid and Palmitoleic Acid?
Palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid are related organic chemical compounds. The key difference between palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid is that palmitic acid can cause a higher level of HDL cholesterol, whereas palmitoleic acid causes a comparatively low level of HDL cholesterol.
The below infographic presents the differences between palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid in tabular form for side by side comparison.
Summary – Palmitic Acid vs Palmitoleic Acid
Palmitic acid is a type of saturated fatty acid having the chemical formula C16H32O2, while palmitoleic acid is a type of omega-7-monounsaturated fatty acid having the chemical formula CH3(CH2)5CH=CH(CH2)7COOH. The key difference between palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid is that palmitic acid can cause a higher level of HDL cholesterol, whereas palmitoleic acid causes a comparatively low level of HDL cholesterol.
Reference:
1. “Palmitoleic Acid.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Palmitic acid” By BartVL71 – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Palmitoleic acid” By BartVL71 – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia