Schizochytrium sp. is a micro algae that occurs in the mangrove forests in the South Pacific Ocean. It produces an oil rich in Omega-3 fatty acids in the form of EPA and DHA. The oil has been used for years in food or as a food supplement.
Schizochytrium is not produced in ponds, but cultivated in sterile fermentors under controlled conditions. As there is no impact from ocean pollution, the oil is free from heavy metals (such as mercury), dioxins and PCBs, that often occur in fish and fish oil.
Production process Testa
The algae and algae oil are produced by various partners in the US and EU. The oil is received from the algae through a solvent-less process. The algae culture is pasteurised (cooked) so that the oil separates from the cells. The oil is then skimmed off the water phase. The oil is treated under as mild as possible conditions and mostly under vacuum to avoid contact with oxygen. Then approved antioxidants are added to the oil to provide the stability. And finally the DHA and EPA percentages may be standardised by the addition of food grade vegetable oil.
Only two materials are used in the production process: sugar and sea algae. The sugar is dextrose obtained from locally produced corn, a renewable resource. The algae strain Schizochytrium sp. is cultivated in a Nebraska plant in order to seed the fermentation.
During the fermentation process, algae cells multiply exponentially and convert dextrose into omega-3 fatty acids that accumulate in oil vesicle
In the downstream process, the cell wall is broken down and the oil vesicles are separated from the aqueous phase. Residual water is then removed from the oil by means of centrifugation. The end result is a highly concentrated algae oil and a liquid by-product.
The liquid by-product can be used as a source of protein in animal feed. Alternatively, it can be converted into biogas for the production of electricity. This means that the process is completely waste-free.
The advantage of our strain of Schizochytrium is that it produces both EPA and DHA in high concentrations, which makes the algae oil an exceptionally rich source of these two essential omega-3 fatty acids. The concentration of these fatty acids in the oil is more than 50%..