Fatty Acids and Herbal Medicine

Background: Fatty acid is a type of carboxylic acid with carbon chain that can be short (4 carbons, such as butyric acid) or long (14 carbons and more, like DHA). Generally, fatty acids are divided into two groups of unsaturated fatty acids and saturated fatty acids. They have important and valuable medicinal properties especially against microbial pathogens. Objective: Studies have shown that the epidemic of the twentieth century's heart disease is due to the abuse of trans fatty acids. The consumption of various fatty acids has various therapeutic effects on various diseases. Methods: Relevant articles were searched from Google Scholar, Pub Med, Scopus, Science direct, and Cochrane library. Results: Getting omega-3 fatty acids through diet and supplements affects both acute and chronic inflammation. Consumption of omega-3 fatty acids can slow down the growth of cancer, increase the effect of chemotherapy and reduce the side effects of chemotherapy or cancer. This can be done by reducing angiogenesis in the tumor, creating the differentiation of cancer cells, reducing the risk of heart attack from cancer, etc. Conclusion: In general, fatty acids are valuable and affordable, and available with numerous medicinal properties, including anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties that can be extracted from and used by many sources, especially many medicinal plants. Since antimicrobial chemicals generally have many side effects and have resistance to many microbial species, various studies and experiments to identify and extract fatty acids and their application to the title of the pharmaceutical formulation are essential.