Biological potenices of ε- and ζ1-tocopherol and 5-methyltocol

Abstract

The potencies of natural [epsilon]- and [zeta]1-tocopherol and DL-5-methyltocol have been compared with that of DL-[alpha]-tocopheryl acetate by gestation-resorption assays with rats and found to be 5, 32 and 10%, respectively. It is suggested that the trivial name tocotrienol be given to 2-methyl-2-(4[image],8[image],12[image]-trimethyltrideca-3,7,ll-trienyl)-6-chromanol, which is the tri-unsaturated analogue of tocol and the parent compound of [epsilon]- and [zeta]-tocopherol. Information from various sources on the relative potencies of the tocopherols and methylated tocotrienols is presented and discussed.