Health benefits of octacosanol and other long-chain aliphatic fatty alcohols from plants

Abstract

Octacosanol, a long-chain aliphatic alcohol, exists mainly in a natural wax product that occurs abundantly in wheat germ oil, rice bran oil, fruits, or leaves of many plants. It is a natural fatty alcohol with a variety of important biological and physiological activities and functions having many health benefits. Several studies that evaluated the efficacy of octacosanol by using policosanol (a natural mixture of primary aliphatic alcohols), of which octacosanol is the major component. Due to high stability and encouraging biological activities of octacosanol, currently it is consumed as health products. In recent times, several commercial nutraceutical supplements containing octacosanol have become increasingly popular for health management. This chapter will discuss the role of octacosanol and policosanol in the regulation of lipid metabolism and elaborate its antifatigue, ergogenic, and anti-inflammatory properties; neurological, antioxidant, and antiangiogenic activities; cytoprotective function; and anti-stress activity. The chapter will allow to understand octacosanol’s promotion of energy metabolism, improvement of athletic performance, lowering effects of cholesterol, reduction of platelet aggregation, reduction of risk of ulcer, protective effects on parkinsonism, and so on. The proposed mechanisms behind the functionalities of octacosanol and potential health claims and promotion of optimal health will also be explained. Besides octacosanol, health benefits of other long-chain fatty alcohols will also be included in this chapter. The chapter will enable a better understanding of the current knowledge on potential health benefits of octacosanol and policosanol on human health.