Process for the isolation of polyunsaturated fatty acids and esters thereof from complex mixtures which contain sterols and phosphorus compounds

摘要

This invention relates to a process for the isolation of fatty acids and fatty acid esters from complex naturally occurring mixtures which contain sterols, triglycerides and phospholipids. A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises extracting lipids from egg yolk solids with methanol; separating lipids including sterols from insoluble egg yolk components; submitting the methanolic solution of lipids to (a) alkaline hydrolysis and subsequent neutralization to convert lipids to free fatty acids together with sterols; (b) separating the said sterols and acids from an aqueous phase formed in the hydrolysis reaction; (c) heating said free fatty acids and sterols to convert the sterols to fatty acid sterol esters; (d) subjecting the mixture to distillation to separate the sterol esters from the free fatty acids; and (e) subjecting the said acids to esterification in the presence of glycerol to produce triglycerides of said fatty acids wherein the resulting triglycerides contain reduced quantities of sterols and phosphorus. An enteral nutritional formula containing the triglycerides produced in the above process is also disclosed.