Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are fatty acids with a carbon chain of six carbons or fewer. They are now usually referred to as short-chain fatty acids (SCFA).
They can be created through fermentation in the intestine.
Examples include:
- Acetic acid
- Propanoic acid
- Butyric acid
Famous quotes containing the words volatile and/or acids:
“The volatile truth of our words should continually betray the inadequacy of the residual statement. Their truth is instantly translated; its literal monument alone remains.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The new American finds his challenge and his love in the traffic-choked streets, skies nested in smog, choking with the acids of industry, the screech of rubber and houses leashed in against one another while the townlets wither a time and die.”
—John Steinbeck (1902–1968)