Unsaturated Fatty Acid (DHA)

INTRODUCTION-

Various fats and fatty acid made up of triglycerides of fatty acids. Lots of fatty acid, specifically polyunsaturated fatty acids, are difficult to synthesize and can only be acquired from natural fats or fatty acid by process of extraction, in which they are naturally present. Most of these unsaturated fatty acids are known to be valuable because of their therapeutic properties. The fatty acids which having these properties must be in specific cis-trans configuration. These polyunsaturated fatty acid are essential for normal growth and health. Awareness of their health benefits has goes on increasing since the 1980s.

The fatty acid which cannot be synthesized by our body, therefore they can supplied in diet’s .These fatty acid

They were found plant sources as well as animal sources. They were found in seeds like almond seed, pumpkin seed, flax seed, and nuts like walnut, hickory nut. Soya oil, flax seed oil, wheat germ oil, canola oil, soybean oil also contain EPA and DHA. Fish and seafood like tuna, blue fish, and cat fish, sardine, mackerel, crab, cod, marine algae rich in EPA and DHA.

Therefore it is very difficult to get EPA and DHA in its pure form. In these sources EPA and DHA found itself or as a derivative of triglyceride. Because these reservoir normally contain a substantial quantity of fatty acid residues, frequently as residues of triglyceride molecules, which dilute the concentration of DHA or EPA in the oil. Other fatty acids are always present in measure quantity. Since EPA and DHA are known to be medically effective for treating a variety of conditions, highly pure EPA and DHA are required in large amounts to conduct clinical studies and for therapy.

Therefore large amount of fish oil are refined and encapsulated each year for sale as a dietary supplement. However, there are several significant problems With these fish oil supplements, including bioaccumulation of fat-soluble vitamins and high levels of saturated and omega-6 fatty acids, both of Which can have deleterious health

The term “purity” is used here to mean not only in the sense of being separated from all other fatty acids of different chain lengths, and different number and placement of unsaturation, but also the purity of the particular cis-trans structure. Prior methods not only did not yield sufficient purity, but in many cases also required such extreme physic cal and chemical conditions as to cause some degree of degradation of the fatty acids, formation of peroxides, and/or conversion of some of the cis- bonds to the