Metabolism of meadowfoam oil fatty acids in mice

Abstract

Meadowfoam oil is unusual because over 95% of the fatty acids are 20‐ and 22‐carbon aliphatic acids withcis double bonds located principally at the 5‐ and/or 13‐position. Since little information is available on the metabolism of the 5c−20∶1 and 5c,13c−22∶2 fatty acids, an exploratory study in mice was conducted to investigate the metabolism of purified samples of the free fatty acids isolated from meadowfoam oil, and to determine the effect of meadowfoam oil on weight gain and tissue lipid composition. Mice fed diets containing 5% by wt of the purified 5c−20∶1 or 5c,13c−22∶2 for 6 days exhibited no apparent physiological problems. Total liver lipids from mice fed the purified fatty acid diets contained mean values of 2.0% 5c−20∶1 and 2.1% 5c,13c−22∶2; total heart lipids contained 1.7% 5c−20∶1 and 10.7% 5c,13c−22∶2. Liver total phospholipids from mice fed a 5% meadowfoam oil diet for 19 wk contained 1.4% 5c−20∶1 and 1.9% 5c,13c−22∶2. There was no evidence of desaturation, elongation or retroconversion. Weight gain for mice fed the meadowfoam oil diet for 19 wk was similar to mice fed corn oil, and was higher than for mice fed hydrogenated cottonseed oil. Considering the high 5c−20∶1 and 5c,13c−22∶2 content of the diets, the percentages of these fatty acids in mouse tissue lipids from both the short‐ and long‐term studies were low. Weight gain was surprisingly good since the meadowfoam oil diet was essential fatty acid‐deficient. Results of this initial investigation suggest that the 5c−20∶1 and 5c,13c−22∶2 fatty acids were utilized primarily for energy. In the short‐term study, these fatty acids did not produce toxic effects or cause metabolic problems.