On Thu, 15 Oct 1998, Amadeus Schmidt wrote:

> What are the fat
> ty-acid's names in the USDA-Database ("ALA" ...)?

They used to put the names there, but for some reason stopped
doing so.  I wrote and asked them to correct this, but it hasn't
happened yet.  So I created a little memo file, "fatnums," to
remind myself of the names, which I'm always forgetting.  Here it
is:

Saturated
4:0     butyric
6:0     caproic
8:0     caprylic
10:0    capric
12:0    lauric
14:0    myristic
16:0    palmitic
18:0    stearic

Monounsaturated
16:1    palmitoleic
18:1    oleic
20:1    gadoleic
22:1    erucic

Polyunsaturated
18:2    linoleic (LA)
18:3    linolenic (or alpha-linolenic, ALA)
18:4    parinaric
20:4    arachidonic
20:5    timnodonic (or eicosapentanoic, EPA)
22:5    clupanodonic
22:6    docosahexanoic (DHA)