Industrial Research Limited

Callaghan Innovation

Andrew Douglas MacKenzie

Owen John Catchpole

John Bertram Grey

Stephen John Tallon

A process for obtaining lipids containing highly unsaturated fatty acids from plant or animal material, including contacting the material with liquid dimethyl ether to give a dimethyl ether solution containing lipids and a residue of plant or animal material, separating the solution from the residue of plant or animal material, and recovering lipids from the solution.

Extraction of highly unsaturated lipids with liquid dimethyl ether

A process for extracting a wide range of lipophilic compounds from urea-containing solutions is described. The process utilises a near-critical fluid as the extraction solvent. The process is particularly applicable to the extraction of polyunsaturated fatty acids from the filtrate obtained upon urea fractionation, as employed in the processing of fish and other oils. In contrast to known processes, the lipophilic compounds may be extracted without the use of non-food grade solvents, and are suitable for pharmaceutical and cosmetic use.

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Wellington, New Zealand

Andrew Douglas MacKenzie