ñ-Eleostearic acid or (9Z,11E,13E)-octadeca-9,11,13-trienoic acid, is an organic compound, a conjugated fatty acid and one of the isomers of octadecatrienoic acid. It is often called simply eleostearic acid although there is also a ò-eleostearic acid (the all-trans or (9E,11E,13E) isomer). Its high degree of unsaturation gives tung oil its properties as a drying oil.
In their pioneering work on essential fatty acids, George Burr, Mildred Burr and Elmer Miller compared the nutritional properties of ñ-eleostearic acid (ESA) to that of its isomer alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). ALA relieved essential fatty acid deficiency; ESA did not.
In rats, ñ-eleostearic acid is converted to a conjugated linoleic acid. The compound has been found to induce programmed cell death of fat cells, and of HL60 leukemia cells in vitro at a concentration of 20 üM. Diets containing 0.01% bitter gourd seed oil (0.006% as ñ-eleostearic acid) were found to prevent azoxymethane-induced colon carcinogenesis in rats.
ñ-Eleostearic acid is found in the oils extracted from seeds. Tung oil has 82% ñ-eleostearic acid. Bitter gourd seed oil has 60% ñ-eleostearic acid.
Eleo- is a prefix derived from the Greek word for olive, á¼Âûñùÿý.