Cod liver oil is extracted from the livers of cod fish. It is mainly sourced from Scotland, Norway, Germany, Iceland, and Denmark. To produce cod liver oil, the cod liver is cleaned, minced, and heated to 80°C to destroy the lipase enzyme. The oil is then extracted and stored in barrels cooled to -2 to -5°C to precipitate palmitin, which is removed by filtration. Cod liver oil is a pale yellow, fishy-smelling oil that contains vitamins A and D. It is used to treat conditions like rickets and tuberculosis due to its nutritional and vitamin content.

1. COD LIVER OIL
BY
Dr. Jitendra Patel
Associate Professor
AIPS, Hyderabad, India.

3. Synonyms
1. Cod oil,
2. Cod liver oil,
3. Cod fish liver oil.
4. Fish oil.

4. Biological Source
• It is processed from fresh liver of cod fish,
Gadus morrhua and other species of
Gadus, belonging to family Gadidae.

5. Geographical Source
• It is mainly found in Scotland, Norway,
Germany, Iceland, and Denmark

6. Preparation
• The liver is cleaned and minced into small
pieces and heated to 80°C in a vat by
admitting steam for half an hour.
• The enzyme lipase is destroyed at
temperature above 70°C.
• The oil is removed and put in tin drums which
are encased with wooden barrels.
• The barrels are kept inside the snow and the
oil is cooled to -2 to -5°C, the slow cooling
process precipitates the palmitin, which is
separated by filtration.
• The oil obtained is medicinal oil. The residual
cake formed after the medicinal oil is
subjected to heating at higher temperature to
obtain oil with inferior quality and brown
colour.

7. Characteristics
• The oil is pale yellow in colour; it has fishy
odour and taste.
• Cod liver oil is slightly soluble in alcohol and
fully soluble in chloroform, ether, carbon
disulphide and petroleum ether.
• Specific gravity: 0.922–0.929, Refractive
index: 1.475–1.4745, Acid value is less than 2,
Iodine value 155–173.
• The oil should be stored in well-filled airtight
containers, protected from light, and kept in
a cool place.

8. Chemical constituents
• The cod liver oil contains glycerides esters of
saturated acids of linoleic, oleic, myristic,
gadoleic, palmitic, and other acids. The oil has
vitamin A and vitamin D. Cod liver oil also
contains about 1% unsaponifiable matter; like
cholesterol, fatty alcohol, squalene, α-glyceryl
esters, etc.

9. Vitamin D3

10. Uses
• Oil is used as source of vitamins, in treatment
of rickets, tuberculosis, and also as a
nutritive.

11. Thank You