arachidonic acid

Classifications are made based on the available commercial supply of the ingredient, and are made based on the criteria on our classifications page.

Commercially available arachidonic acid is vegan and vegetarian.

Arachidonic acid is an omega-6 fatty acid which provides lots of critical functions in the body. It can be produced in the human body naturally from alpha-linolenic acid. Although most dietary sources for arachidonic acid come from animal products, and it was traditionally extracted from animals, it is currently commercially manufactured using microbial fermentation using the fungus Mortierella alpina.

Sources

1. Mamani, L. D. G., Magalhães, A. I., Ruan, Z., Carvalho, J. C. d., & Soccol, C. R. (2019). Industrial production, patent landscape, and market trends of arachidonic acid-rich oil of Mortierella alpina. Biotechnology Research and Innovation, 3(1), 103–119.
   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biori.2019.02.002
2. Stredanská, S., Kubincová, J., Kopuncová, M., Kiss, E., Baxa, S., & Stredanský, M. (2026). Arachidonic Acid Production by Mortierella alpina on Brewery Spent Malt Enriched with Vegetable Oils Using Solid-State Fermentation. Fermentation, 12(8), 394.
   https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation12080394