Punicic acid (also called trichosanic acid) is a
polyunsaturated fatty acid, 18:3 cis-9, trans-11, cis-13. It is named for the
pomegranate, (Punica granatum), and is obtained from pomegranate seed oil.
It has also been found in the seed oils of
snake gourd.[1]
Punicic acid is a
conjugated linolenic acid or CLnA; i.e. it has three
conjugated double bonds. It is chemically similar to the
conjugated linoleic acids, or CLA, which have two. It has also been classified as an "n-5" or "omega-5" polyunsaturated fatty acid. In lab rats, punicic acid was converted to the CLA
rumenic acid (9Z11E-CLA).[2]In vitro, it shows anti-invasive activity against prostate cancer cells.[3] OLETF rats—a strain which becomes obese—remained relatively lean when punicic acid was added to their feed.[4]
^Lansky E, Harrison G, Froom P, Jiang W (2005). "Pomegranate (Punica granatum) pure chemicals show possible synergistic inhibition of human PC-3 prostate cancer cell invasion across Matrigel". Invest New Drugs. 23 (2): 121–2.
doi:
10.1007/s10637-005-5856-7.
PMID15744587.
S2CID5867887.