What is DHA Algae Oil?

National Announcement

On March 9, 2010, the Ministry of Health (MOH) issued the “Announcement on the Approval of DHA Algal Oil, Cottonseed Oligosaccharides and 7 Other Items as New Resource Foods and Other Relevant Provisions (No. 3 of 2010)”, formally approving DHA algal oil as a new resource food.

DHA algal oil is extracted from algae plants, and scholars at home and abroad have carried out many toxicological tests and demonstrations on it, and the test results show that it is safe to add the specified dose of DHA to food.

Most people believe that fish is the main source of DHA, but the fact is that fish contain DHA because they consume DHA-rich seaweed, and the DHA in the seaweed only accumulates in the fish through the food chain. Therefore taking algae DHA directly is not only more straightforward, but it also doesn’t have the fishy odor of fish oil.

Difference between Fish Oil and Algae DHA

Fish oil DHA: It is mainly extracted from deep-sea fish oil.

Features:

1, although the DHA content of fish oil is relatively high, the EPA content is also relatively high, which has a negative impact on the generation of ARA in the child’s body.

2, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) content is high, so that the proportion of DHA is too low, and breast milk is a big difference, not in line with the physiological needs of children.

3、Fish will be contaminated by heavy metals such as mercury, lead or harmful substances such as arsenic to varying degrees, and the safety is low.

4、DHA extracted from deep-sea fish oil is beneficial to the elderly and adults, because EPA has the effect of lowering blood fat and thinning blood.

Algae DHA: It is extracted from algae.

Characteristics:

1, algae DHA content is high, EPA content is very low, if DHA is extracted from algae, the ratio of DHA and EPA is 20:1, if it is extracted from fish oil, it is 4-5:1.

2, algae extraction is pure natural plant-based, no fishy flavor, strong antioxidant capacity, if the deep sea fish oil extraction, it is more active nature, it is easy to oxidize fishy.

3, algae extracted DHA is most conducive to the absorption of infants and young children, and can effectively promote the development of the baby’s retina.

From the characteristics of the two can be seen, fish oil DHA and algal oil DHA, in the source of raw materials and DHA content are different. Compared to the previous one, algal oil DHA is pure plant source, which is purer and safer, and contains higher DHA purity than fish DHA products.

Application of DHA Algae Oil in Foods

3.1 Infant and children’s food

Since DHA is crucial to the formation and development of brain cells and visual organs in infants and young children, and is helpful to the formation of children’s brain thinking and memory, many countries, including ours, have approved the application of DHA algal oil in the production of food for infants and children.

In Europe, America, Japan and other developed countries, there are infant formula liquid milk, milk powder, cheese, soft candy, cookies and other products on the market, the domestic Yili, Mengniu and other well-known dairy producers in recent years have also launched the addition of algal oil DHA infant formula milk powder and children’s liquid dairy products.

It is worth noting that, in order to protect the safety of food for infants and young children, when choosing microencapsulated DHA products to be added as nutritional supplements, attention should be paid to the types of raw materials, such as wall materials and emulsifiers, which should be in line with the special requirements for raw materials in food for infants and young children.

3.2 Adult food

Wu Kegang et al. studied the application of water-repellent microencapsulated DHA algal oil in cookie processing, and proposed that the microencapsulated DHA algal oil be mixed with flour, starch and milk powder first, and then be mixed with water and other raw materials and blended well, and then be produced in accordance with the subsequent process of ordinary cookies.

Peng Yun, Li Biansheng and Wang Zhiming et al. conducted an experimental study on the addition of algal oil DHA to cakes and concluded that the quality of the cakes was not affected while maintaining the function of DHA.

Zhang Yingxia et al. explored the addition of DHA algal oil to mooncake crust by dissolving DHA oil in peanut oil and mixing it with other ingredients to make the crust, and adding DHA powder directly into flour dry mixing to make the crust to achieve the purpose of strengthening DHA.

Wang et al. added DHA oil additive to moon cake filling and concluded that the dispersion of algal DHA oil additive in moon cake filling was better than that of powder, which was suitable for industrialized production.

Huang Weifeng and Zheng Xiaohui et al. studied the application of DHA algal oil oil additive and microcapsule powder respectively in the addition of toast bread, and concluded that when the net addition of DHA was 0.10-2.20 mg/g, the additives had no significant effect on the appearance, nuisance odor, taste, acid value, peroxide value of the toast bread during the shelf life of 7d, and that the rate of loss of DHA in the powder was lower.

3.3 Fats and oils

Si Huajing, Huang Weifeng and Peng Xiaofang studied the application of high content of DHA algal oil added in peanut oil and olive oil, and carried out the study on the shelf life and DHA stability in low temperature and high temperature cooking conditions of vegetable oils added with DHA algal oil oil additives, and concluded that the DHA content of the samples basically remained unchanged under the conditions of low-temperature cooking under 100℃, and that the DHA content decreased slightly but not by a significant amount after high-temperature cooking at 160℃ for 20min, and that the DHA content of the samples remained unchanged under the conditions of low-temperature cooking under 100℃. After 20min of high temperature cooking at 160℃, the DHA content slightly decreased, but the decrease was not big, and it did not cause big influence on the odor and taste of peanut oil.

3.4 Oral preparation

There are mainly two kinds of oral preparations of DHA algal oil, namely, powdered preparation and soft capsule, with soft capsule being the most popular, and they are sold as health care products.

Powdered preparations are generally produced by microcapsule embedding technology, while soft capsules are generally made by directly filling microalgae DHA oil.

These two types of products are mostly complex nutrient preparations, powdered preparations are added milk powder, functional sweeteners, and calcium, zinc and other trace elements. Soft capsules are added walnut oil, linolenic acid oil and other oils and fats rich in unsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E and other oil-soluble nutrients.

The population of the product is mainly concentrated in pregnant women, women in labor, infants, children and the elderly.

The future development of DHA algal oil

As a new resource food, DHA algal oil has its own unique nutritional value, physiological function and high safety.

With the popularization and application of new culture, extraction and separation technologies such as microalgae parthenogenesis, supercritical extraction and molecular distillation, its production safety can be better guaranteed.

In the continuous development and improvement of DHA algal oil application technology, its solubility and stability can also be significantly improved.

The improvement of these conditions makes the application space of DHA algal oil in food greatly enhanced. As a nutritional enhancer, it can be added to beverages, dairy products, bakery products, grain and oil products and their deep-processed foods to develop functional foods for adults.

In addition, it can also be reasonably added to milk powder, rice flour, cookies, noodles, liquid milk, yogurt, fruit and vegetable juice (sauce), compound paste food, candy and other infant auxiliary food, children’s food.

Although the application of DHA algal oil in the field of food industry in China has just begun, the prospect of its application is very wide.