Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center
2008 Awarded Research Projects
Project Title: Purification of pollock oil using short path distillation
Principal Investigator: Alexandra de Oliveira
Award: $84,266
Estimated Completion: January 31, 2010
Abstract
The beneficial health effects of a diet rich in long chain polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids (LC-ω3-PUFA’s) have been fully described in recent years. Marine oils are an important dietary source of LC-ω3-PUFA’s, being especially rich in two of the most important fatty acids of this class namely, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid; 20:5ω3) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid; 22:6ω3). Due to its nutritional value there is growing interest in refining fish oil for human consumption. In Alaska there are large quantities of fishery byproducts being used for the production of fish meal and fish oil. Most fish oil produced in Alaska is crude or unrefined, thus it may only serve as ingredient for animal feed unless further steps are taken to handle specific fishery byproduct components as raw materials for the production of food. In this case, unrefined human grade fish oil can be produced and may be further purified to meet market specifications for human grade oils. The main goal of this research is to investigate the applicability of short-path distillation for the purification of commercial pollock oil, and human grade pollock liver oil. Pollock oils will be subjected to short-path distillation for deodorization, and removal of free fatty acids and other impurities. The major advantages of using this technology, compared to traditional fish oil purification steps, are that it reduces the use of chemicals during processing, reduces the number of steps needed to refine fish oils, and reduces oil loss during purification improving processing yields.
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