Abstract
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA's) are majorly classified as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, omega-3:20-5), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, omega-3:22-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, omega-3:18-3) are known omega-3 fatty acids, extracted from animal (e.g fish oil) and plant sources (e.g flaxseed oil). Furthermore, linoleic acid (LA, omega-6:18-2) is recognized as omega-6 fatty acid and the most prominent biological fatty acid with a pro-inflammatory response. Flaxseed oil has variety of biological roles, due to the significant amount of omega-3/omega-6 fatty acids. Numerous studies have reported that ALA (omega-3:18.3) and LA (omega-6:18.2) has diverse pharmacological activities. The ALA (omega-3:18-3) and LA (omega-6:18-2) are recognised to be the pharmacological antagonist. For example, ALA (omega-3:18-3) is recognised as anti-inflammatory, whereas LA (omega-6:18.2) is considered to be pro inflammatory. PUFA's get oxidized in three ways; firstly, free radical-mediated pathway, secondly non-free radical non-enzymatic metabolism, and lastly enzymatic degradation. The present report is an attempt to summarize various modes of PUFA's metabolism and elaborate biological effects of the associated metabolites concerning flaxseed oil.