Biodiesel Byproduct Converted to Omega-3 Fatty Acids
A scientist at Virginia Tech has found a way to grow heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids using a byproduct of the emerging biodiesel industry.
High energy prices have led to an increase in biodiesel production, which in turn has led to an increase in the amount of a byproduct known as “crude glycerol.” Biodiesel plants leave behind approximately 10 percent crude glycerol during the production process.
The price of glycerol, a chemical compound widely used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, has consequently declined and the market can no longer absorb all the extra product. Biodiesel producers are struggling to find alternative means for disposing of crude glycerol, which is prohibitively expensive to purify for industry use.
Zhiyou Wen, assistant professor of biological systems engineering at Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has developed a novel fermentation process using microalgae to produce omega-3 fatty acids from crude glycerol.
“We have shown that it is possible to use the crude glycerol byproduct from the biodiesel industry as a carbon source for microalgae that produce omega-3 fatty acids. After thorough chemical analysis, we have also shown that the algae biomass composition has the same quality as the commercial algae product.”
After growing the algae in the crude glycerol, researchers can use it as an animal feed. This mimics a process in nature in which fish, the most common source of omega-3 fatty acid for humans, eat the algae and then retain the healthful com
pounds in their bodies. Humans who consume the fish in turn consume the omega 3s. Fish-derived products such as fish oil are an inexpensive alternative, but the taste has deterred widespread use.
The typical American diet often lacks omega-3 fatty acids despite clinical research that shows their potential human health benefits.
Wen has partnered with Steven Craig, senior research scientist at Virginia Cobia Farms to use crude glycerol-derived algae as a fish feed.
“The results so far have been promising. The fish fed the algae had significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.”
Wen presented his paper, “Production of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid from biodiesel-waste glycerol by microalgal fermentation,” at the 236th national meeting of the American Chemical Society.
