Patent ID: 8877465

Claim:
A process for producing an eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)-rich composition comprising: i) culturing a micro-organism in a medium under controlled illumination, thereby producing a biomass, ii) harvesting the biomass, and iii) selectively recovering polar lipids with at least one EPA side chain within the biomass in preference to neutral lipids with at least one EPA side chain within the biomass to produce an EPA-rich composition, wherein said micro-organism is a type selected for a capability of largely heterotrophic growth, a capability of production of EPA, and a capability of photosynthetic lipid production, wherein said medium comprises organic carbon, phosphorous, and silicon, and wherein said controlled illumination is at a level corresponding to an average photosynthetically active irradiance inside the culture ranging from about 1 μmol photons m −2 s −1 to about 10 μmol photons m −2 s −1 , and wherein step i) maximizes the yield of recoverable polar lipids including at least one EPA side chain.