Fatty acid isolation by crystallization of fish oil fractioned by enzymatic hydrolysis

The main objective of this work was to establish a process to characterize the crystallization products of fish oil fractions hydrolyzed with, pancreatic lipase. Enzymatic hydrolysis was accomplished in a 60 minute hydrolysis employing a substrate concentration of 1262 mols, 38 degrees C, with an enzyme concentration (protein) of 7.647 mg.mL(-1), pH 8. The hydrolysis products were separated by column chromatography, thin layer chromatography, and gas chromatography. The crystallization temperature was controlled between 5 degrees C and -18 degrees C. The TAG fraction was best crystallized at 0 degrees C while the DAG + AGL and MAG fractions were crystallized at 5 degrees C. It was observed that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentrated in the liquid phase of the DAG + AGL fractions represented 97.17 per cent of the fish oil. Palmitic acid was crystallized in the DAG fraction and comprised about 50 per cent of the total fatty acids. The long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, mainly the EPA, are concentrated in the solid phase of the TAG fraction. The results suggest that the isolation of fatty acids from fish oil can be accomplished using a combination of enzymatic hydrolysis followed by crystallization.