Process for producing concentrate of unsaturated fatty acid

摘要

An easy and inexpensive process by which a concentrate of a given unsaturated fatty acid can be obtained from a mixture which has conventionally been difficult to concentrate. The process, which is for producing a concentrate of a desired isomer (a) from a mixture (A) selected from the group consisting of a mixture comprising at least two isomers of a C₁₆ or higher conjugated unsaturated fatty acid and a mixture comprising at least two cis-isomers of a C₁₆ or higher unsaturated fatty acid having a cis-double bond, is characterized by comprising: a step in which the mixture (A) is mixed with at least one C_4-14 saturated fatty acid (B) to obtain a mixture solution containing the isomer (a) dissolved therein; a crystallization step in which either crystals rich in the isomer (a) or crystals poor in the isomer (a) are precipitated from the mixture solution; and a solid-liquid separation step for obtaining the crystals rich in the isomer (a) or for obtaining a solution rich in the isomer (a) by removing the crystals poor in the isomer (a).