Sterol and fatty acid profiles of three macroalgal species collected from the Chabahar coasts, southeastern Iran

Abstract

Species of marine algae have been found to contain a high diversity of sterols and fatty acids. This study aims to investigate the sterol and fatty acid potentials of two brown algae, Padina australis and Stoechospermum marginatum, and one red alga, Ahnfeltiopsis pygmaea, collected from the coast of Chabahar Bay, southeastern Iran. The analysis showed that total sterol content varied from 218.21 mg/100 g in P. australis to 374.19 mg/100 g dry weight (DW) in S. marginatum. Sitostanol was the most abundant sterol in the three species of algae. Sitostanol (90.34 mg/100 g) and campestanol (0.07 mg/100 g) contents of S. marginatum were higher than those in P. australis and A. pygmaea. Analysis of fatty acid profiles indicated that total fatty acid contents of the three algae species varied from 0.69% in S. marginatum to 1.52% of DW in P. australis. The percentages of SFA (saturated fatty acid) were measured from 32.36% in S. marginatum to 51.23% in A. pygmaea. The content of MUFA was also different from 12.53% in A. pygmaea to 19.72% in P. australis. Significant differences were observed in polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content from 34.23% in A. pygmaea to 40.40% in P. australis. Arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n-6) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20: 5n-3) were predominant in the samples, with the highest levels measured in A. pygmaea and S. marginatum. Maximum ratio of omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids was seen in P. australis. The results of this study demonstrate the valuable potential of the three macroalgal species from one of the less studied coasts in Iran.