Arachidonic Acid Oil
Arachidonic acid oil is the refined fungal triglyceride oil that carries arachidonic acid, all cis 5,8,11,14 eicosatetraenoic acid, as its principal fatty acid. It is the same commodity the trade abbreviates to ARA oil, and it is the form in which arachidonic acid is bought and sold, since the fatty acid is traded esterified on glycerol rather than as the free acid.
The commercial oil holds arachidonic acid at 38 to 50 percent of total fatty acids, with oleic, palmitic, stearic and gamma linolenic acid making up most of the balance. Its function in a formulation is nutritional rather than technological: it contributes the omega 6 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid that human milk supplies to infants and that adult tissues use as the substrate for eicosanoid synthesis and as a structural component of membrane phospholipid.
The oil is a clear pale yellow to amber liquid, insoluble in water, fully miscible with other edible oils and fats, and readily emulsified. Its handling is dominated by oxidative sensitivity, since four methylene interrupted double bonds oxidise faster than anything in a common seed oil. Commercial material therefore carries mixed tocopherols, is stored cold under nitrogen in opaque containers, and is added to a process at the lowest temperature and latest stage the formulation permits. A spray dried encapsulated powder version exists for dry blending.
We source bulk Arachidonic Acid Oil from top China manufacturers for our partners, working with several of them. The manufacturers are in Hubei, Anhui and Zhejiang. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Nutraceutical
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Clear pale yellow to amber oil, free of visible sediment |
| Odour and Taste | Bland to mildly characteristic |
| Arachidonic Acid (of total fatty acids) | 38.0 to 42.0 percent |
| Identification | Gas chromatographic fatty acid profile conforms to reference |
| Free Fatty Acid (as oleic) | Not more than 0.4 percent |
| Peroxide Value | Not more than 5.0 meq/kg |
| Anisidine Value | Not more than 20 |
| Moisture and Volatile Matter | Not more than 0.1 percent |
| Unsaponifiable Matter | Not more than 2.0 percent |
| Trans Fatty Acids | Not more than 1.0 percent |
| Insoluble Impurities | Not more than 0.05 percent |
| Residual Solvent | Not more than 10 mg/kg |
| Lead | Not more than 0.1 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | Not more than 0.1 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | Not more than 1000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | Not more than 100 cfu/g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Content of arachidonic acid in the oil is the primary grading parameter. A 40 percent grade is the reference for infant formula and accounts for most volume, a 38 to 42 percent band covers general supply, and 45 to 50 percent concentrates are traded for capsules and clinical nutrition where dose volume is a constraint. Oxidation parameters travel with the assay: free fatty acid, peroxide value and anisidine value are all specified, and trans fatty acid is limited because the deodorisation step can isomerise a polyunsaturated chain if run too hot.
Delivery form is the second axis. Liquid oil ships in nitrogen flushed cans, drums and intermediate bulk containers. Microencapsulated powder, typically 7 to 10 percent arachidonic acid on a modified starch, protein or maltodextrin wall with antioxidant, serves dry blended powders where an oil dosing line is not available. Infant grade material carries a fuller documentation set than supplement grade, including residual solvent, trans fatty acid and full fatty acid profile, and both grades are normally offered with kosher, halal, non genetically modified and allergen free declarations.
Applications
- Infant and follow on formula, where it is combined with a docosahexaenoic acid oil to reproduce the fatty acid balance of human milk
- Preterm infant nutrition, where the capacity to elongate linoleic acid to arachidonic acid is least developed
- Toddler and growing up milk powders, using the encapsulated grade in dry blend lines
- Enteral and clinical nutrition products for patients with compromised fatty acid metabolism
- Adult softgel supplements taken as an eicosanoid substrate alongside resistance training
- Sports nutrition powders and ready to mix beverages using the spray dried powder form
- Medical foods aimed at cognitive maintenance in older adults
- Feline diets and pet supplements, cats requiring a preformed dietary source of the fatty acid
- Hatchery and larval aquaculture feeds, where it influences stress tolerance and pigmentation
- Defined lipid supplement for mammalian cell culture media
Brands Using Arachidonic Acid Oil
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Arachidonic Acid Oil on the ingredient label.
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Arachidonic Acid Oil
Top Arachidonic Acid Oil manufacturers in China.
Anhui Tiankai Biotechnology Co., Ltd.2 ingredients in the directory
Hubei Fuxing Biotechnology Co., Ltd.4 ingredients in the directory
Hubei Xinhe Biological Technology Co., Ltd.7 ingredients in the directory- Zhejiang Grand Biotech Co., Ltd.6 ingredients in the directory
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States generally recognised as safe notifications to the Food and Drug Administration cover arachidonic acid oil from Mortierella alpina for infant formula and for conventional food use, and the agency responded without objection. Its use in infant formula is further regulated by the infant formula rules, which set nutrient requirements, quality factors and the notification a manufacturer must file before marketing a new or reformulated product.
In the European Union the oil holds novel food status as an oil from Mortierella alpina, and arachidonic acid is addressed in the compositional requirements for infant and follow on formula. It is a food ingredient rather than an additive and has no E number. Codex covers it through the standard for infant formula, which sets the fatty acid provisions for the category, and JECFA has not issued a separate additive specification. Feed and aquaculture applications are regulated under the feed materials and feed additive frameworks and require separate registration from the food use.
Manufacturing Process
Manufacture is by submerged aerobic fermentation of Mortierella alpina, an oleaginous fungus that stores arachidonic acid rich triglyceride within its mycelium. The inoculum is developed through flask and seed fermenter stages and transferred into a production vessel charged with a carbohydrate source, most often glucose or hydrolysed starch, together with a nitrogen source and mineral salts. Over a run of several days, temperature, aeration, agitation and pH are held to profile, and the feed is arranged so the culture passes from a growth phase into nitrogen limitation, the condition under which the organism diverts carbon into lipid and raises the arachidonic acid share of that lipid.
The broth is pasteurised at harvest and the biomass separated by filtration or centrifugation and dried. Oil is extracted from the dried mycelium using hexane or supercritical carbon dioxide, and solvent is stripped from the miscella under vacuum to leave crude oil. Refining follows the edible oil sequence but at reduced severity throughout: degumming, alkali neutralisation or short path physical refining, bleaching on activated clay under vacuum, optional winterisation, and deodorisation by short path or molecular distillation at the lowest temperature that clears the volatile off flavours. Antioxidant tocopherols are blended into the cooled oil, which is polish filtered and packed under nitrogen. For the powder grade, refined oil is emulsified with wall and carrier materials and spray dried into an inert atmosphere.
