Development of an assay for measuring levels and composition of Omega-3 in a variety of sources

Omega-3 fatty acids are considered to be the most important nutritional lipid and are essential for normal body function, playing an important role in brain and eye development, joint care and controlling inflammatory responses. These acids cannot be synthesised by humans or animals and so must be derived from dietary sources.

Fatty acids are traditionally obtained by extracting oils from plant, fish, or animal tissues, however, the composition in these sources generally depends on the season and location. There is a requirement to find alternative sources to meet the growing demand across the food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic industries.

Challenge

This project originally sought to explore the optimisation of Omega-3 fatty acids through modification of algal fermentation parameters and to profile other key components, but due to various external factors, the project pivoted its focus to try to establish and validate a fatty acid assay that would be available to support commercial activities of biotechnology companies requiring fatty acid analysis.

Solution

An assay for the characterisation and quantification of fatty acids in biological matrices by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed and validated by Phillip Whitfield’s group based at Glasgow Polyomics, University of Glasgow.

This was validated on samples from a number of IBioIC member companies including MiAlgae.

The group in Glasgow successfully quantified the amount of omega-3 fatty acids in the samples, compared the measurements with a commercial laboratory and identified factors to improve the method.

When the focus of the project shifted, IBioIC provided Dr Whitfield links to other IBioIC member companies, who submitted samples to help assay development and validation.