The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences in the capacity of skeletal muscle from morbidly obese Black and White American women to oxidize fatty acids. The oxidation rates of (14)C-palmitate, (14)C-palmitoyl-CoA, and (14)C-palmitoyl-carnitine were measured in whole homogenates of rectus abdominus from Black and White women who were similar in age and body mass index (BMI). The activities of muscle citrate synthase (CS), beta-hydroxy acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (beta-HAD), and mitochondrial and microsomal acyl-CoA synthetase (ACS) were measured in the 2 groups. The results showed that the rate of (14)C-palmitate oxidation by muscle of Black women was 25% that of Whites (8.7 +/- 1.5 v 34.4 +/- 6.8 nmol (14)CO(2) produced/gram tissue wet weight/ hour; P <.05), but the rates of (14)C-palmitoyl-CoA and (14)C-palmitoyl-carnitine oxidation were not different in the 2 groups. No differences were found in the activities of CS or beta-HAD. However, the activities of both mitochondrial and microsomal ACS were lower in the Black women than the Whites (mitochondrial ACS 25.1 +/- 3.9 v 36.4 +/- 5.0 nmol/mg protein/min; P <.05; microsomal ACS 6.2 +/- 0.5 v 8.5 +/- 0.5; nmol/mg protein/min; P <.005). The lower rate of palmitate oxidation, and the lack of differences in the rates of palmitoyl-CoA and palmitoyl-carnitine oxidation indicate that there is a defect in the activation of the fatty acid in the muscle of the Black women. This was confirmed by the decrease in mitochondrial ACS activity in the Black women. The decreased fatty acid oxidation by skeletal muscle of obese Black women could result in shunting these fuels from muscle to adipose tissue for storage, which may contribute to the maintenance of obesity in the Black women.