Isolation and Characterization of Oil from Fatty Tissues of Emu Birds Farmed in India

ABSTRACT Fatty tissues of Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)were extracted by different methods from the Emubirds grown in India. The oil extracted was analyzedfor physico-chemical characteristics, i.e. free fattyacids, moisture content, iodine value, phosphorouscontent and unsaponifiable matter, saponificationnumber. The fatty acid composition was determinedfor the extracted oil which showed oleic acid as majorfatty acid and the overall composition was similar tothe emu oil fatty acid composition reported for oil fromAustralia and USA. The oil was also analyzed fortriacylglycerol (TAG) composition and the majormolecular species was found to be with effectivecarbon number (ECN) of C48 and C46. The positionaldistribution of fatty acids on the triacylglycerol backbone was determined which showed that unsaturatedfatty acids were located in sn-2 position and saturatedfatty acids were present mostly in sn-1, 3 positions ofthe triacylglycerol molecule.KEYWORDS: emu oil, extraction, fatty acids, TAGcomposition.