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Myristic acid, also called tetradecanoic acid or 14:0 is a common saturated fatty acid
Fatty acid

In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturation or Unsaturated compound....
 with the molecular formula CH3(CH2)12COOH. A myristate is a salt or ester
Ester

An ester is an often Aroma compound organic chemistry or partially organic compound formed by the reaction between an acid and an alcohol or aromatic alcohol with the elimination of water....
 of myristic acid.

Myristic acid is named after the Nutmeg
Nutmeg

The nutmegs Myristica are a genus of evergreen trees indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia. They are important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace....
 Myristica fragrans. Nutmeg butter is 75% trimyristin
Trimyristin

Trimyristin is an ester with the chemical formula C45H86O6. It is a saturated fat which is the triglyceride of myristic acid....
, the triglyceride
Triglyceride

is a glyceride in which the glycerol is esterified with three fatty acids. It is the main constituent of vegetable oil and animal fats....
 of myristic acid. Besides nutmeg, myristic acid is also found in palm oil
Palm oil

Palm oil is an edible Vegetable fats and oils derived from the fruit of the Arecaceae Elaeis oil palm. Previously the second-most widely produced edible oil, after soybean oil, 28 million tonnes were produced worldwide in 2004....
, coconut oil
Coconut oil

Coconut oil, also known as coconut butter, is a tropical oil with many applications. It is extracted from copra . Coconut oil constitutes seven percent of the total export income of the Philippines, the world's largest exporter of the product....
, butter fat, and spermacetin, the crystallized fraction of oil from the sperm whale
Sperm Whale

The Sperm Whale is the largest of all toothed whales and largest living toothed animal. The whale was named after the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in its head and originally mistaken for sperm or semen....
.

Myristic acid is also commonly added co-translationally to the penultimate, nitrogen-terminus, glycine
Glycine

Glycine is the organic compound with the chemical formula NH2CH2COOH. It is the smallest of the 20 amino acids commonly found in proteins, coded by codons GGU, GGC, GGA and GGG....
 in receptor-associated kinase
Kinase

In chemistry and biochemistry, a kinase, alternatively known as a phosphotransferase, is a type of enzyme that transfers phosphate groups from High-energy phosphate donor molecules, such as adenosine triphosphate, to specific target molecules ; the process is termed phosphorylation ...
s to confer the membrane localisation of the enzyme.






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Myristic acid, also called tetradecanoic acid or 14:0 is a common saturated fatty acid
Fatty acid

In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturation or Unsaturated compound....
 with the molecular formula CH3(CH2)12COOH. A myristate is a salt or ester
Ester

An ester is an often Aroma compound organic chemistry or partially organic compound formed by the reaction between an acid and an alcohol or aromatic alcohol with the elimination of water....
 of myristic acid.

Myristic acid is named after the Nutmeg
Nutmeg

The nutmegs Myristica are a genus of evergreen trees indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia. They are important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace....
 Myristica fragrans. Nutmeg butter is 75% trimyristin
Trimyristin

Trimyristin is an ester with the chemical formula C45H86O6. It is a saturated fat which is the triglyceride of myristic acid....
, the triglyceride
Triglyceride

is a glyceride in which the glycerol is esterified with three fatty acids. It is the main constituent of vegetable oil and animal fats....
 of myristic acid. Besides nutmeg, myristic acid is also found in palm oil
Palm oil

Palm oil is an edible Vegetable fats and oils derived from the fruit of the Arecaceae Elaeis oil palm. Previously the second-most widely produced edible oil, after soybean oil, 28 million tonnes were produced worldwide in 2004....
, coconut oil
Coconut oil

Coconut oil, also known as coconut butter, is a tropical oil with many applications. It is extracted from copra . Coconut oil constitutes seven percent of the total export income of the Philippines, the world's largest exporter of the product....
, butter fat, and spermacetin, the crystallized fraction of oil from the sperm whale
Sperm Whale

The Sperm Whale is the largest of all toothed whales and largest living toothed animal. The whale was named after the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in its head and originally mistaken for sperm or semen....
.

Myristic acid is also commonly added co-translationally to the penultimate, nitrogen-terminus, glycine
Glycine

Glycine is the organic compound with the chemical formula NH2CH2COOH. It is the smallest of the 20 amino acids commonly found in proteins, coded by codons GGU, GGC, GGA and GGG....
 in receptor-associated kinase
Kinase

In chemistry and biochemistry, a kinase, alternatively known as a phosphotransferase, is a type of enzyme that transfers phosphate groups from High-energy phosphate donor molecules, such as adenosine triphosphate, to specific target molecules ; the process is termed phosphorylation ...
s to confer the membrane localisation of the enzyme. The myristic acid has a sufficiently high hydrophobicity to become incorporated into the fatty acyl
Acyl

An acyl group is a functional group derived by the removal of one or more hydroxyl groups from an oxoacid.. In organic chemistry, the acyl group is usually derived from a carboxylic acid of the form RCarbon Oxygen hydroxyl....
 core of the phospholipid
Phospholipid

File:Phospholipid.svgFile:phospholipid_structure.pngFile:Phosphatidyl-Choline.svgPhospholipids are a class of lipids and are a major component of all cell membranes....
 bilayer of the plasma membrane of the eukaryotic cell. In this way, myristic acid acts as a lipid anchor in biomembranes.

The ester isopropyl myristate
Isopropyl myristate

Isopropyl myristate is the ester of isopropanol and myristic acid....
 is used in cosmetic and topical medicinal preparations where good absorption through the skin is desired.

Reduction of myristic acid yields myristyl alcohol.