Synthesis of EPA-enriched medium- and long-chain triacylglycerol by lipase-catalyzed transesterification: a novel strategy for clinical nutrition intervention.

BACKGROUND: Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) has been recognized as a promising nutrient to improve the therapeutic efficacy of cancer patients. Nevertheless, there are certain limitations to the application of EPA due to its structural characteristics. To maximize the nutritive value of EPA, a type of medium- and long-chain triacylglycerol (MLCT) enriched with EPA was designed and synthesised via lipase-catalyzed transesterification of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) and EPA-enriched fish oil (FO).

RESULTS: The optimum synthesis conditions for EPA-enriched MLCT were Lipozyme RM as catalyst, substrate mass ratio (MCT/ EPA-enriched FO) 3:1, lipase loading 80 g kg-1 , reaction temperature 60°C, and reaction time 6 h. The content of MLCT was up to 80.79% after the transesterification reaction and the purification, and the content of MLCT containing EPA accounted for 70.21%. Furthermore, the distribution of EPA at the sn-2 position showed a significant increase in MLCT compared with original substrate, from 18.89% to 26.93%. Further, the in vitro digestion results demonstrated that MLCT had a significantly higher EPA bioaccessibility compared to the original substrate.

CONCLUSION: The EPA-enriched MLCT has been developed, which may be a novel strategy for clinical nutrition intervention. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.