Novel Approaches for Elongation of Fish Oils into Very-Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Their Enzymatic Interesterification into Glycerolipids.

Elongation of the Very-Long-Chain Fatty Acids-4 (ELOVL4) enzyme that is expressed in neuronal tissues, sperm, and testes mediates biosynthesis of very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC-PUFAs) from dietary long chain PUFAs (LC-PUFAs). The VLC-PUFAs are critical for neuronal and reproductive function. Therefore, mutations in ELOVL4 that affect VLC-PUFA biosynthesis contribute to retinal degenerative diseases including Autosomal Dominant Stargardt-like Macular Dystrophy (STGD3).

Formation of Previously Undescribed Δ-Phytosterol Oxidation Products and Tocopherylquinone Adducts in Pumpkin Seed Oil during Roasting, Screw-Pressing, and Simulated Culinary Processing at Elevated Temperatures.

The influence of pumpkin seed roasting conditions (110-140 °C) and screw-pressing on the formation of previously undescribed Δ-phytosterol oxidation products and tocopherylquinone adducts with nucleophilic phosphatidylethanolamine species was investigated. The roasting process of pumpkin seed paste at a temperature above 120 °C for 30 min considerably enhanced the formation of Δ-oxysterols. Targeted analysis [electron impact mass spectrometry (MS), 1D-nuclear magnetic resonance] led to the identification of five novel markers of pumpkin paste roasting, among which (3β,5α,22,24)-stigmasta-7,22-dien-6-one-3-ol (6-oxo-α-spinasterol), stereoisomers of (3β,5α,22)-7,8-epoxystigmast-22-en-3-ol (7,8-epoxy-α-spinasterol), and (3β,5α)-22,23-epoxystigmast-7-en-3-ol (7,8-epoxy-α-spinasterol) were reported in edible oils for the first time.