ABSTRACT
One of the driving forces for the development of single cell oil (SCO) containing long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) was the presence in human milk of two particular LCPUFA, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA). Until recently these polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have not been added to infant formulas. Once it was recognized that these two PUFA played an important role in the brain, attempts were made to provide these PUFA naturally from fish oils and egg phospholipids. It was relatively easy to obtain DHA from oils such as tuna oil (1), however providing AA was more difficult. When it was found that AA-containing oils were produced by certain species of soil fungi (2), research soon established that it was possible to harvest this oil in commercial quantities. Similarly, a DHA-containing oil from a marine microalgae was used to produce commercial quantities of DHA (3).
