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Heritage Science

Table 1 The fatty acid content of drying oils typically present in paintings [6, 14, 15]

From: Insights into the yellowing of drying oils using fluorescence spectroscopy

Fatty acids

 

Linseed oil (%)

Poppy seed oil (%)

Walnut oil (%)

Safflower oil (%)

Palmitic acid

(C16:0*)

6–8

8–12

3–7

5.5–7

Stearic acid

(C18:0)

3–6

2–3

0.5–3

2–3

Oleic acid

(C18:1)

14–24

12–17

9–30

10–35

Linoleic acids

(C18:2)

14–19

55–65

57–76

55–81

Linolenic acid

(C18:3)

48–60

3–8

2–16

0–1

  1. * C16 indicates the number of carbons in the chain (in this case, 16 carbons), while the second number indicates the degree of unsaturation (number of double bonds)
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