SQUALENE AND SQUALANE OF HIGH QUALITY PRODUCED BY MICROWAVE ASSISTED PROCESS

The present invention relates to a product comprising squalene according to Formula I in an amount of equal or more than 50 wt.-% related to the total weight of the product according to Formula I, the product being produced by a continuous flow, microwave assisted process comprising the steps: a) preparing a reaction mixture containing an oily or fatty material of plant origin and aqueous methanol or aqueous ethanol, b) continuously conveying of the reaction mixture through a microwave-transparent reaction zone and irradiating the reaction mixture with microwaves inside the reaction zone in the presence of an acidic catalyst, whereby the retention time of the reaction mixture in the microwave-transparent reaction zone is 1 s to 180 s, the temperature in the reaction zone being equal to or between 100 °C and 220 °C, the pressure in the reaction zone being 1.5 bar to 30 bar, wherein a reaction of the reaction mixture takes place in the reaction zone resulting in a mixture of polar substances comprising glycerol, methanol or ethanol, and water, and non-polar substances comprising fatty acid methylesters or fatty acid ethylesters and unsaponifiable components, c) releasing the pressure to ambient pressure, d) after phase separation the polar phase is separated from the non-polar phase containing the non-polar substances, e) separating fatty acid methylesters or fatty acid ethylesters from the non-polar phase by falling film evaporation or thin-layer evaporation, f) separating squalene according to Formula I from the unsaponifiable components by molecular distillation, short-pass distillation, extraction or freeze separation.