Separation and preparative purification of arachidonic acid from microbial lipids by urea inclusion reaction and HPLC

Arachidonic acid (AA) was separated and purified from microbial lipids by the combined method of urea inclusion reaction and reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. At first, AA was concentrated from free fatty acids made from microbial lipids by a urea inclusion reaction. The optimum conditions were as follows: methanol was the suitable solvent, the ratio of free fatty acids to urea to methanol was 1:2:8 (wt/wt), and the temperature of the urea inclusion reaction was -10 degrees C. The AA content was increased from 38% to 79%, and then AA was purified on a C(18) preparative column (300 mm x 30 mm I.D., d(p)=15 microm), using methanol-water (95:5, v/v) as the mobile phase, at a flow rate of 5 mL/min. The purity of AA after two steps purification reached 99%. This result indicates that the combined method of the urea inclusion reaction and reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography is a promising technique for purification of AA.