Unsaturated Phosphatidylethanolamine as Effective Synergist in Combination with α-Tocopherol

Abstract

The effects of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) on the oxidation of bonito oil triacylglycerol (TAG) were examined under the absence or presence of α-tocopherol. Synthesized PC or PE having saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in known position were used in this study. Unsaturated PC and PE promoted TAG oxidation under the absence of α-tocopherol. On the contrary, unsaturated PE showed synergistic antioxidant effect with α-tocopherol, while PC had little effect. The strongest synergistic effect was found by 1-palmitoyl (16:0, PA)-2-docosahexaenoyl (22:6n-3)-PE, followed by 1-PA-2-arachidonyl (20:4n-6)-PE, 1,2-dioleoyl (18:1n-9)-PE, and 1-PA-2-linoleoyl (18:2n-6)-PE, respectively.