Patent ID: 11946017
Assignee: EVONIK OPERATIONS GMBH
Field: Pharmaceuticals (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C  A | IPC A  C

Claim 0:
1. A method of separating a polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)-containing lipid from the debris of a biomass, comprising the following steps:
a) providing a suspension of a biomass comprising cells which contain a PUFAs-containing lipid;
b) lysing the cells of the biomass;
c) heating the suspension obtained in step b) to a temperature of 80° C. to 100° C., and adjusting the pH to a value of 9.0 to 11.5;
d) maintaining the temperature and pH value in the ranges of paragraph c) for at least 10 hours thereby forming a demulsified suspension;
e) harvesting the PUFAs-containing oil by:
i) adding an acid to the demulsified suspension to adjust it to a pH of 5.5 to 8.5;
ii) subsequently separating the resulting oil-containing light phase from the water, salt and cell debris-containing heavy phase;

wherein:
after lysing cells in step b), and prior to steps c) and d), the suspension is concentrated to a total dry matter content of 30 to 60 wt.-% by evaporation of water;
more than 90 wt.-% of the oil contained in the initial biomass is separated and isolated;
the method is carried out without the addition of any salts for salting out the oil.