Nothing added, nothing removed
Loaded with natural marine nutrients

The features of our fresh raw material enables us to use a gentle processing method, simply extracting the lipids - as is - from the rest of the components. Due to its unique chemistry, it is not necessary to refine, concentrate or change the composition in anyway. This provides a complex and broad lipid profile of the oil obtained.

Graphical overview of the diverse composition of Zooca™ Lipids, as a result of the gentle manufacturing process.

A special combination

The special combination of the three omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids SDA, EPA and DHA are due to the phytoplankton fatty acids being incorporated into the copepods’ storage lipids. Therefore, the fatty acids found in Zooca™ Lipids are largely reflected by the fatty acid composition of the phytoplankton. The high content of the long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids and their corresponding long-chain policosanols in Zooca™ Lipids are the results of the copepods’ own synthesis.

As Zooca™ Lipids is a non-refined lipid extract from a natural source, it contains a plethora of different lipid components such as astaxanthin, policosanols and more than 15 different fatty acids, as illustrated in the figure.

MORE THAN FATTY ACIDS: MARINE POLICOSANOLS

The wax esters in Zooca™ Lipids contain bioactive lipid molecules which resemble long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids. These are often referred to as policosanols due to its alcohol moiety (-ols). Nearly 40 % of the Zooca™ Lipids are present as the policosanols eicosenol (20:1 n-9) and docosenol (22:1 n-11), which constitute the major part of the alcohol fraction. These special biomolecules are entirely made from de novo biosynthesis by the zooplankton.  Initially, the fatty acids are built and subsequently reduced to the corresponding policosanol. 

Long-chain alcohols from terrestrial sources such as rice bran wax and sugar cane wax have been shown to increase physical performance and exert anti-inflammatory effects. It has been suggested that the long-chain fatty alcohols enhance physical performance through sparing of muscle glycogen stores by increasing the lipid oxidation (Taylor et al., 2003). However, there are few studies on the effects of marine fatty alcohols and further investigation is thus required. 

HIGH CONTENT OF EPA PRECURSOR STEARIDONIC ACID, BOOSTING EPA LEVELS

Decades of research support that higher intake of EPA and DHA is associated with reduced risk of mortality from coronary heart disease and sudden cardiac death (Innes and Calder, 2020). In addition to EPA and DHA, Zooca™ Lipids is especially rich in stearidonic acid (SDA). This is the first metabolite formed directly from alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3 n-3, Figure 3), which is poorly converted to EPA and DHA in the body. SDA is by far more efficiently converted further to EPA than ALA and has been referred to as being a ‘pro-EPA’ fatty acid (Whelan, 2009). This has led to the suggestion of a direct intake of SDA as another strategy to increase tissue EPA levels. Consequently, SDA has recently gained more attention. Several studies show beneficial effects exerted by the fatty acids as an independent entity, and not only as an effective precursor to EPA. Stearidonic acid favourably compares with dietary EPA in side-by-side experiments in a limited number of studies (Whelan, 2009).