Lauric Acid
Lauric acid is a medium length long chain fatty acids: a lipid. Lipids are important in the construction of cellular membranes and are used metabolised under starvation conditions.
Monolaurin is the monoester of Lauric Acid. (From Wikipedia: esters are organic compounds in which an organic group replaces a hydrogen atom (or more than one) in an oxygen acid . An oxygen acid is an acid whose molecule has an - OH group from which the hydrogen (H) can dissociate as an H + ion )
Olympus Microscopy centre shows a polarised light image of lauric acid. They also report that the pharmaceutical industry uses monolaurin as a antimicrobial agent able to fight RNA and DNA viruses, pathogenic bacteria, yeasts, fungi and protozoa.
