Oxidation of furan fatty acids by soybean lipoxygenase-1 in the presence of linoleic acid.

The interaction of furan fatty acids (F-acids) with lipoxygenase was investigated by incubation experiments of a synthetic dialkyl-substituted F-acid with soybean lipoxygenase-1. Originally the oxidation of furan fatty acids was assumed to be directly effected by lipoxygenase. It is now demonstrated that this reaction is a two-step process that requires the presence of lipoxygenase substrates, e.g. linoleic acid. In the first step linoleic acid is converted by the enzyme to the corresponding hydroperoxide. This attacks, probably in a radical reaction, the furan fatty acid to produce a dioxoene compound that can be detected unequivocally by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.