ABL Biotech to set up DHA facility

Chennai: Chennai-based ABL Biotechnologies Ltd has established a facility for the production of an essential fatty acid called DHA (Docasa Hexaenoic Acid) at Tiruchendur on an investment of Rs 40 crore.

This is the first DHA production facility in the country and second in the world, according to a company release.

The investments in the facility are being made in the current fiscal. The facility is expected to be operational in fiscal 2008. The company already has a facility at Tiruchendur, which produces beta-carotenes from marine algae called ‘Dunaliella salina’.

The technology for the DHA project has been developed by ABL. The new facility will enable ABL to produce DHA at lower costs and also ensure higher productivity.

ABL plans to retail DHA in the form of capsules and fortified foods by 2009. DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid and all fatty acids essential in human diet are contained in either omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids.

Also, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids cannot be synthesized in the human body but must be obtained from one’s diet.