Tocotrienols and tocopherols are members of the vitamin E family, sporting the characteristic structural features of a chromanol “head” and isoprenoid “tail”. However, the isoprenoid tail of tocotrienols is unsaturated while that of tocopherols is saturated.
Like tocopherols, tocotrienols can exist either in the alpha-, beta-, gamma-, or delta- form called “isomers”. Therefore, the vitamin E in the foods that we eat can have any combination of these 8 possible vitamin E isomers.
Robin Miller is a health and nutrition editor with more than 30 years of industry experience. She researches and writes about the nutritional benefits of palm fruit oil, with the goal of giving readers factual, science-based information that will be useful in their daily lives.
