Hydrobiological Aspects of Saturated, Methyl-Branched, and Cyclic Fatty Acids Derived from Aquatic Ecosystems: Origin, Distribution, and Biological Activity

Abstract

This review focuses on the hydrobiological aspects of saturated, methyl-branched, and cyclic fatty acids (FA) derived from aquatic ecosystems. This short review presents the distribution of about 60 FA in various living organisms inhabiting the aquatic environment as well as in marine and freshwater sediments. In addition, it is important to determine the biological activity of saturated, methyl-branched, and cyclic fatty acids. An interesting finding was that some cyclic FA show antiplatelet activity. The generalized and presented data are of interest to hydrobiologists, chemists, and pharmacologists.