Fats Extracted from Oil Press Cakes, Fish Meat, and Chicken Hearts as Potential CoQ10 Supplements

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a liposoluble compound naturally occurring in plant and animal cells, with some benefits for health, mainly due to its antioxidant properties. The food industry gives large quantities of by-products and waste; these could be used to recover the natural form of CoQ10, which has a higher bioavailability than synthetic. The Folch method modified by Boselli was used in this study to extract and characterise the fats from some food by-products (oil press cakes of rapeseed, sunflower, pumpkin, linseed, walnut, and hempseed) and waste (fish meat and chicken hearts), previously identified as sources of CoQ10, for potential uses as dietary supplements. The highest CoQ10 content was found in fats extracted from chicken hearts-CH (2041.74 µg/g) and pumpkin press cakes-PPC (661.40 µg/g). Both vegetable and animal fats are triglycerides but have a low CVD risk (AI values below the recommended limit). CH fat is dominated by oleic acid (n-9) and PPC fat by linoleic acid (n-6). PUFAs/MUFAs ratio is above the recommended minimum in both fats; however, the n-6/n-3 PUFAs ratio in CH fat exceeds the maximum value. These fats also contain tocopherols (PPC-138.09 µg/g and CH-54.22 µg/g) that, along with CoQ10, give them antioxidant properties; therefore, they meet the criteria of a food supplement. Graphical Abstract: (Figure presented.)