US 11,732,213 B2
Winterization of fish oil
Snorri Hreggvidsson, Mosfellsbaer (IS)
Assigned to MARGILDI EHF, Mosfellsbaer (IS)
Appl. No. 15/573,278
Filed by MARGILDI EHF, Mosfellsbaer (IS)
PCT Filed May 13, 2016, PCT No. PCT/IS2016/050009
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 10, 2017,
PCT Pub. No. WO2017/009874, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 19, 2017.
Claims priority of application No. 050107 (IS), filed on May 13, 2015.
Prior Publication US 2018/0155652 A1, Jun. 7, 2018
Int. Cl. C11B 3/00 (2006.01); C11B 7/00 (2006.01); A23L 29/00 (2016.01); A23L 33/115 (2016.01); A23L 33/12 (2016.01)
CPC C11B 3/008 (2013.01) [A23L 29/04 (2016.08); A23L 33/115 (2016.08); A23L 33/12 (2016.08); C11B 7/0075 (2013.01); C11B 7/0083 (2013.01); A23V 2002/00 (2013.01); A23V 2250/188 (2013.01); A23V 2250/1876 (2013.01); A23V 2250/194 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of purifying a fish oil by winterization, the method comprising steps of:
a) mixing a fish oil having a stearin content that is in the range of 2% (by weight) to 40% (by weight) with a solubilizing agent comprising an edible winterized fish oil to obtain a liquid mixture;
b) incubating the liquid mixture at a first temperature that is in a range from +5° C. to +15° C.;
c) filtering the mixture at a temperature that is equal to or lower than the first temperature to obtain a filtrate;
d) incubating the filtrate obtained in step c) at a temperature that is lower than the temperature of steps b) and c);
e) filtering the mixture from step d) at a temperature that is equal to or lower than the temperature in step d);
f) optionally, performing additional incubating and filtering steps at increasingly lower temperatures, wherein each filtering step is performed at a temperature that is equal to or lower than the temperature of the previous incubation step; wherein the temperature of the last filtering step is in a range from −10° C. to +5° C., and wherein the solubilizing agent has a melting point that is lower than the temperature of the last filtering step; and g) isolating a liquid composition of the fish oil and the solubilizing agent that is suitable for human or animal consumption and that has a melting point lower than +5° C. in order to provide a composition of the fish oil after winterization that is a clear liquid without formation of stearin crystals following a cold test performed for a period of 1-3 hours at a temperature of 0° C.