The importance of the unsaturation degree of fatty acids (FA) from mitochondrial membranes in aging has been exposed by an inverse correlation between the aging rate of several species and the unsaturation degree of its membrane FA and peroxidation sensitivity. Although S. cerevisiae has been accepted as a model for the study of the molecular mechanism involved in aging, it can yield limited information about the role of FA in aging because of its membrane FA composition, which consists of FA resistant to peroxidation. To address this issue, we have studied the effects of linolenic acid (C18:3) in yeast chronological aging and mitochondria function. C18:3 decreased in > 50% the cell viability at 6 days of cultivation while almost completely abolished viability at 28 days. This was consistent with a decrease of > 60% in the activity of complexes II and III in C18:3 cells of any age. No mitochondrial membrane potential and loss of respiratory capacity were observed in 28‐days cells with C18:3. These results suggest that native fatty acids of yeast extend its longevity by preserving mitochondrial functions related with energy metabolism. This work was supported by a CONACYT grant (130638 to CCR)