Enrichment of polyunsaturated fatty acids from sardine cannery effluents by enzymatic selective esterification

The sardine canning industry produces vast quantities of effluents that need expensive reprocessing. Their oily component contains valuable n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, namely EPA (5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (7,10,13, 16,19-docosahexaenoic acid), up to 10% each. Our aim was to develop a process allowing the recovery of these fatty acids. After removing solid particles, proteins, and peptides from the crude effluent, the obtained oil was hydrolyzed. EPA and DHA were enriched from the recovered free fatty acid fraction by selective enzymatic esterification. Lipases were used as biocatalysts: Lipozyme^TM allowed up to 80% DHA enrichment but gave no EPA enrichment. By immobilizing Candida rugosa lipase on Amberlite IRC50 cation-exchange resin, a 30% EPA enrichment was obtained.