Chapter 3 – Epoxy Fatty Acids: Chemistry and Biological Effects

There is a worldwide demand for replacing petroleum-derived raw materials with renewable ones. Plant oils and animal fats constitute an important source of renewable lipid materials for chemical industry. Although some plants contain up to 50% of their oils as vernolic and related epoxy fatty acids, industrial extraction and production of such epoxidized acids is not practical. Therefore, epoxidized fatty acids are currently produced by chemical oxidation of unsaturated plant oils. This chapter reviews the basic chemical and biochemical reactions involved in the synthesis of the fatty acid epoxides as well as in the biochemical degradation of the fatty acid epoxides. The large-scale production of fatty acid epoxides and their incorporation into various industrial and household products, however, raises concern about the biological safety of epoxy fatty acids and their derivatives. Therefore, this chapter concludes with an extensive discussion of the biological activity of epoxy fatty acids, ranging from normal metabolism to clinical and pathological effects.