Patent ID: 6204401
Filing Date: 2001-03-20
Classification: C07C,C11B,Y02P

Abstract:
A process for purifying a starting glyceride composition containing a mixture of different polyunsaturated fatty acid glycerides together with at least one impurity, comprising the steps of:(a) subjecting said composition to supercritical fluid fractionation in one or more countercurrent columns in which the fluid serves to extract at least a portion of at least one impurity from the composition, the column being operated either with internal reflux achieved by a temperature gradient along the column or with an external reflux achieved through external regulation of the pressure, and the fluid for said extraction being a mixture of supercritical CO.sub.2 and a polar co-solvent; and(b) recovering a purified composition containing said polyunsaturated fatty acid glycerides with a lesser concentration of impurities than was present in said starting composition.