solation of Squalene from Rice Bran Oil Fatty Acid Distillate Using Bioprocess Technology

Abstract

Squalene has been isolated from rice bran oil fatty acid distillate (RBO FAD) by a combination of biohydrolysis, bioesterification and molecular distillation processes. RBO FAD contains higher amount of (~15%) unsaponifiable matters which mainly contains sterols, tocopherols and hydrocarbons. The major component of hydrocarbons is squalene which is an important natural antioxidant and utilized in various functional food applications. In the present study, the neutral glycerides present in RBO FAD are hydrolyzed using lipase Amano 30 (Candida rugosa) in the presence of water. The hydrolysed FAD is then esterified with butanol using non-specific enzyme NS40013 (Candida antarctica) for 8 h. The esterified product is then distilled by molecular distillation in two stages. Distillation temperature is maintained at 175±2 0 C and 185±2 0 C in the first and second stages respectively at 2-3 Pascal. Final distillate contains 88.2% squalene which is further concentrated by boiling with alcoholic KOH and extracted through hexane. The final product contains 96.5% squalene as determined by HPLC technique.