Study on Lipid Content and Fatty Acid Profile of Four Marine Macro Algae (Seaweeds) Collected from South East Coast of Sri Lanka

Abstract

The lipid content and fatty acid profile of four marine macro algae (Ulva lactuca, Sargussum wightii, Sargussum turbinaria, and Kappaphycus alvarezii) that are collected from south east coast of Sri Lanka were studied by solvent extraction followed by gas chromatographic analysis. The results indicated that, the saturated and unsaturated fatty acids levels from C4:0 to C22:6. The lipid content of the selected seaweeds varied from 0.49-1.51% and the highest lipid content was found in U. lactuca while the lowest lipid content was found in the S. turbinaria. The analysis of differences in the composition of the saturated to unsaturated fatty acids in the extracts, shown that, palmitic acid (C16:0) and linoleic acid (C18:2 cis 9, 12) reached the highest value in all selected seaweeds and the highest quantity of monounsaturated fatty acids was observed in S. wightii (18.35%) followed by S. turbinaria (15.32%) and K. alvarezii (15.20%). An omega-3 fatty acid such as, alpha linolenic acid (all-cis-6, 9, 12), linolenic acid (all-cis-9, 12, 15), and eicosatrienoic acid (all-cis-8, 11, 14) were rich in U. lactuca, S. wightii and S. turbinaria. But some seaweeds have been detected the butyric acid (C4:0) in higher proportion (5.58-28.94%) and it may due to the fermentation of the seaweeds. The obtained results helped to determine that selected seaweeds have higher content of saturated fatty acids than the unsaturated fatty acids and proper drying condition and storage condition will be need to the seaweeds.