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Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Measuring Oral Fatty Acid Thresholds, Fat Perception, Fatty Food Liking, and Papillae Density in Humans
Published on: June 4, 2014
Physico-chemical Properties of Fatty Acids for Assessing the Threshold Concentration to Enhance the Absorption of a
Y Kimura1, Y Hosoda1, M Shima1
1a Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University.
Abstract:
The effects of natural and non-natural fatty acids on enhancing the absorption of a hydrophilic marker through a human epithelial cell (Caco-2) monolayer were measured to elucidate the properties of the fatty acids. Fatty acids from C9 to C14 enhanced the absorption depending on the concentration and the carbon chain length. Those fatty acids with longer chains gave a higher permeability coefficient at low concentrations and a lower toxicity than those with shorter chains. The surface energy lowering coefficient (SELC), an intrinsic physico-chemical property, and the critical micellar concentration (CMC) were good criteria for identifying the threshold concentrations of a fatty acid to significantly enhance absorption.
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