New Zealand’s green-lipped mussels (NZGLM), Perna canaliculus, are bivalve mollusc species that are endemic to the region and are exported to 77 countries, with the mussel export markets totalling over 336 million NZD in 2020. Due to their unique marine environment, NZGLM contain a variety of lipids such as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), non-methylene-interrupted (NMI)-FA, plasmalogen, phytosterols, and furan fatty acids. These lipids are not present in most fish oil products. Studies have discovered that these lipids have significant health benefits, including combating obesity and reducing risks of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Because of the low concentration of lipids in NZGLM and the current expensive extraction techniques, the extracted lipids is very expensive. Hence, a cost-effective and environmentally clean process for the recovery of lipids is required to overcome this issue. This project aims to design and utilise deep eutectic solvents as green solvents to recover lipids from NZGLM by the dissolution of NZGLM tissue.
Undergraduate
None
No lab has been assigned to this project