Eicosapentaenoic acid-producing microorganisms, fatty acid compositions, and methods of making and uses thereof
The present invention is directed to isolated microorganisms as well as strains and mutants thereof, biomasses, microbial oils, compositions, and cultures; methods of producing the microbial oils, biomasses, and mutants; and methods of using the isolated microorganisms, biomasses, and microbial oils.
1. A blended oil composition comprising a vegetable oil and a microbial oil comprising a polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) fraction produced from a single isolated strain of thraustochytrid microorganism, wherein said PUFA fraction comprises a triacylglycerol fraction which is at least 10% by weight of said PUFA fraction, wherein at least 12% by weight of the fatty acids in the triacylglycerol fraction is eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), wherein at least 25% by weight of the fatty acids in the triacylglycerol fraction is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and wherein less than 5% by weight of the fatty acids in the triacylglycerol fraction is arachidonic acid (ARA), wherein said thraustochytrid microorganism is of the genus Schizochytrium or Thraustochytrium , and wherein said refined oil further comprises an effective amount of at least one added antioxidant to provide oxidative stability.
2. The vegetable oil of claim 1 , wherein the triacylglycerol fraction is at least 40% by weight of said PUFA fraction.
3. The vegetable oil of claim 1 , wherein at least 15% by weight of the fatty acids in the triacylglycerol fraction is eicosapentaenoic acid.
4. The vegetable oil of claim 1 , wherein at least 35% by weight of the fatty acids in the triacylglycerol fraction is docosahexaenoic acid.
5. The vegetable oil of claim 1 , wherein 2% or less by weight of the fatty acids in the triacylglycerol fraction is arachidonic acid.
6. The vegetable oil of claim 1 , wherein the fatty acids comprise less than about 5% by weight each of oleic acid, linoleicacid, linolenic acid, eicosenoic acid, and erucic acid.