PURIFYING CRUDE PUFA OILS
A process for preparing an oil mixture of an T6 PUFA (such as ARA) with T3 PUFA (such as DHA and/or EPA) is described which can he included into edible formulations such as foodstuffs, and in particular infant formulas. A crude T6 PUFA (e.g. ARA)-containing oil is admixed with a crude T3 PUFA (e.g. DHA or EPA)-containing oil to produce a crude oil mixture (or blend). This mixture is then purified before addition to a foodstuff Alternatively, a crude T6 PUFA-containing oil is treated, and a crude T3 PUFA-containing oil is also treated, and the two purified oils are then blended prior to deodorising and then added to a foodstuff. The purifying includes acid and/or alkali treatment, bleaching, deodorization, filtering, polishing or cooling. The purifying removes trace metals, pigments, carbohydrates, proteins, sulphur, sterols, mono- or di-glycerides from the oils which renders them suitable for human consumption.
1 . A process for preparing an oil mixture, the process comprising:
(a) combining a crude T6 PUFA-containing oil with a crude T3 PUFA-containing oil to produce a crude oil mixture; and
(b) purifying the crude oil mixture to produce a purified T6 and T3 PUFA-containing oil mixture.
2 . A process according to claim 1 wherein:
the purifying comprises removing phospholipids, trace metals, pigments, soaps, carbohydrates, proteins, sulphur, sterols, mono- or di-glycerides, saturated triglycerides and/or free fatty acids;
(ii) the oil mixture is an oil blend;
(iii) the T6 PUFA is ARA and/or the T3 PUFA is DHA or EPA; and/or
(iv) the combining in (a) is of only two or three oils, all of which are single cell or microbial oils.
3 . A process according to claims 1 to 2 wherein the purifying comprises acid treatment, alkali treatment, neutralisation, water washing, filtering, polishing, winterization, bleaching and/or deodorization.
4 . A process according to any preceding claims which additionally comprises:
(c) optionally, treatment with an acid or degumming, or removing phospholipids, trace metals, pigments, carbohydrates and/or proteins;
(d) optionally, treatment with an alkali or removing free fatty acids, phospholipids, pigments, trace metals, water-insoluble substances and/or oil-insoluble substances;
(e) optionally, washing with water, and if necessary drying;
(f) adding one or more antioxidants;
(g) optionally, washing with water, bleaching or removing pigments, oxidation products, trace metals, sulphur and/or soap;
(h) optionally, filtering;
(i) optionally, cooling or winterising or removing saturated triglycerides;
deodorising or removing free fatty acids, mono- or di-glycerides, oxidation products, pigment decomposition products, solvents and/or sterols;
(k) optionally, polishing or removing oil-insoluble substances.
5 . A process according to any preceding claims wherein:
(i) the crude T6 PUFA (e.g. ARA)-containing oil contains from 15 to 25% of the T6 PUFA;
(ii) the purified T6 PUFA oil contains from 35 to 45% of the T6 PUFA;
(iii) one or more of (c), (d) and/or (i) of claim 4 are not optional;
(iv) one or more of (c) to (i) of claim 4 are performed on the crude T6 PUFA-containing oil and/or the crude T3 PUFA-containing oil, the resulting oils are then combined as in (a), and the oil mixture is then treated according to (j) and/or (k); and/or
(v) both the T6 and T3 PUFAs have at least four double bonds.
6 . A process according to any preceding claim wherein either:
(i) the T3 PUFA (e.g. DHA)-containing oil is a fish oil and/or the T6 or T3 PUFA (e.g. ARA, DHA or EPA)-containing oil is a microbial oil; and/or
(ii) the crude T6 PUFA-containing oil is derived from a fungus of the order Mortierella, optionally from the fungus Mortierella alpina, and/or the T3 PUFA-containing oil is derived from the organism Crypthecodinium cohnii; or
(iii) either the T6 PUFA or T3 PUPA-containing oil is a vegetable oil.
7 . A process according to any preceding claim wherein in the purified oil mixture:
(i) the amount of T3 PUFA (e.g. EPA) is at least 20% of the amount of the T6 PUFA (e.g. ARA); and/or
(ii) the purified oil has an T6:T3 (e.g. ARA:DHA) ratio of from 1:5 to 5:1, optionally of from 1:1 to 1:2.
8 . A process according to any preceding claim wherein the purified oil has at most 0.1% free fatty acids, at most 0.2% of phospholipids, a phosphorus content below 10 ppm, an iron content below 0.05 ppm, a copper content below 0.02 ppm and/or a peroxide value (POV) below 1.0.
9 . A purified oil mixture comprising a T6 PUFA and a T3 PUFA, which is suitable for human consumption, such as by a baby or infant, and optionally is a purified oil blend which is preparable by a process according to any preceding claim.
10 . An edible formulation comprising a purified oil mixture according to claim 9 , for example a foodstuff (preferably adapted for consumption by humans and optionally an infant formula) a nutritional supplement or a pharmaceutical composition.
11 . A process for the preparation of an edible formulation, the process comprising incorporating an oil mixture prepared by a process according to any of claims 1 to 8 , or a purified oil mixture according to claim 9 , into a formulation.
12 . A process according to claim 11 wherein the formulation is a baby food or infant formula.