In
adipocere, some specific
fatty acids possessing higher melting points, together with
soap, play an important role in the formation and stabilization of
adipocere. These
fatty acids were shown to be mainly 10-hydroxy stearic and 10-hydroxy
palmitic acids. Slight amounts of 10-oxo stearic and 10-oxo
palmitic acids, which have higher melting points than those of hydroxy
fatty acids (OHFAs), exist in the
adipocere as well. The substantial
adipocere is formed and stabilized mainly by these specific
fatty acids. The OHFA and oxo
fatty acid (OXOFA) are biosynthesized by some bacterial
enzymes. Various aerobic and anaerobic bacteria are involved in the formation of
adipocere. For instance, microbial conversion of various
unsaturated fatty acids to 10-OHFA by Micrococcus luteus was investigated. It turned out that 10-OHFA was synthesized only from
fatty acids possessing cis-9-unsaturatin. It was also shown that 10-OHFAs were converted to the corresponding 10-OXOFAs but 10-OXO compounds were inactive as substrates. It was further found that the
enzyme preparations from Flavobacterium meningosepticum solubilized by sonication catalyzed not only hydration of
oleic acid to produce 10-hydroxy
stearic acid, but also dehydrogenation of this product in the presence of
deuterium. On the other hand, we found out that there was
10-hydroxy-12-octadecenoic acid (10-OHODA) in the
linoleic acid in human
adipocere and that there were 9-chloro-10-methoxy (9-methoxy-10-chloro)
palmitic acid and 9-chloro-10-methoxy (9-methoxy-10-chloro)
stearic acid in human neonate
adipocere.