POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS AND FATTY ACID ESTERS FREE OF STEROLS AND PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS

摘要

Fatty acid esters such as those containing arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) derived from lipid mixtures and prepared with reduced levels of sterols and phosphorus. A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises extracting lipids from egg with methanol; separating lipids including sterols from insoluble egg components; submitting the methanolic solution of lipids to transesterification and subsequent neutralization to convert the lipids to methyl esters of said free fatty acids together with sterols; separating the said sterols and esters from an aqueous phase including phosphorus compounds formed in the transesterification; subjecting the said fatty acid esters and sterols to distillation to separate sterols from the fatty acid esters; and subjecting the said esters to transesterification in the presence of glycerol to produce triglycerides of said esters thereof including that of AA and DHA wherein the resulting triglycerides contain reduced quantities of sterols and phosphorus.