A process for high yield and scaleable recovery of high purity eicosapentaenoic acid esters from microalgae and fish oil
Abstract
A low expense process is developed for recovering esterified eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) from microalgae and fish oil. Over 70% of the EPA content in the esterified crude extract of microalgae were recovered at purities exceeding 90%. The recovery scheme utilizes either wet or freeze-dried algal biomass. The process consists of only three main steps: 1) simultaneous extraction and transesterification of the algal biomass; 2) argentated silica gel column chromatography of the crude extract; and 3) removal of pigments by a second column chromatographic step. Argentated silica gel chromatography recovered about 70% of the EPA ester present in the crude fatty ester mixture of fish oil, but at a reduced purity ( approximately 83% pure) compared to the microalgal derived EPA. The optimal loading of the fatty ester mixture on the chromatographic support was about 3% (w/w) but loadings up to 4% did not affect the resolution significantly. The process was scaled up by a factor of nearly 320 by increasing the diameter of the chromatography columns. The elution velocity remained constant. Compared to the green alga Monodus subterraneus, the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum had important advantages as a potential commercial producer of EPA. For a microalgal EPA process to be competitive with fish oil derived EPA, P. tricornutum biomass (2.5% w/w EPA) needs to be obtained at less than $4/kg. If the EPA content in the alga are increased to 3.5%, the biomass may command a somewhat higher pr…
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CmEO has a high degree of purity with only minimal amounts of free fatty acids and complex esters.
“The AV of 0.8436 mg KOH/g and the SV of 2.4664 mg KOH/g of CmEO are relatively low, suggesting a high degree of purity with only minimal amounts of free fatty acids and complex esters (Belarbi et al., 2000).”
From Calamondin (<i>Citrus microcarpa</i>) Peel Essential Oil: Physicochemical, Chemical, and Biological Properties (2026) · cites this paper as Belarbi et al., 2000
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- Authors
- Belarbi, E. H., Molina, E., & Chisti, Y.
- Affiliations
- University of Almería (ES)
- Venue
- Enzyme and Microbial Technology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2000-04
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 516-529
- ISSN
- 0141-0229 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2035932752
- Cited by
- 281
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 10.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Enzyme and Microbial Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- European Commission
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Fatty Acid Research and Health
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Edible Oils Quality and Analysis
- Keywords
- microalgae, fish oil, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, transesterification, pigment removal, scale-up, silver contamination, omega-3 fatty acids, storage stability
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