V. V. Havrylyak, V. M. Tkachuk

Institute of Animal Biology, National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Lviv, Ukraine;
e-mail: havvita@ukr.net

The purpose of this study was to determine the fatty acid composition of structural lipids, isolated from normal and abnormal wool fibers. The results of these studies show that regardless of the type of wool fibers defect there are quantitative changes in their fatty acid composition.  It was shown that the main fatty acid of the covalently bound lipids, isolated from the wool fibers­, is 18-methyleicosanoic acid (18-MEA), comprising 40% of the total fatty acid, while its amount in free lipids in norm is less than 4%.  The decrease of 18-MEA content in the covalently bound lipid both in pathological thin and entangled wool fibers was established, which is associated with damage of the cuticle layer surface. Increasing of 18-MEA content in the free lipids in the entangled wool fibers may indicate a rupture of tioester links between lipids and proteins of cuticle layer lamellar structures.

Keywords: entangling, fatty acid composition, fiber, free and bound structu­ral lipids, thinning, yellowing