Abstract
Polar lipids from microalgae have aroused greater interest as a natural source of omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), an alternative to fish, but also as bioactive compounds with multiple applications. The present study aims to characterize the polar lipid profile of cultured microalga Emiliania huxleyi using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HILIC–MS) and fatty acids (FA) analysis by gas chromatography (GC–MS). The lipidome of E. huxleyi revealed the presence of distinct n-3 PUFA (40% of total FA), namely docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) and stearidonic acid (18:4n-3), which give this microalga an increased commercial value as a source of n-3 PUFA present in the form of polar lipids. A total of 134 species of polar lipids were identified and some of these species, particularly glycolipids, have already been reported for their bioactive properties. Among betaine lipids, the diacylglyceryl carboxyhydroxymethylcholine (DGCC) class is the least reported in microalgae. For the first time, monomethylphosphatidylethanolamine (MMPE) has been found in the lipidome of E. huxleyi. Overall, this study highlights the potential of E. huxleyi as a sustainable source of high-value polar lipids that can be exploited for different applications, namely human and animal nutrition, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
Highlights
Microalgae have attracted great interest in various biotechnological applications, including human and animal nutrition, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals [1], representing a sustainable feedstock to supply new products and materials, as well as various high-value compounds
The starter inoculum was grown in 50 mL Erlenmeyer flasks in a climatic chamber (20 ◦C with 12:12 h light:dark cycle, using an irradiance of 50 μmol m−2 s−1) and the culture medium recommended by Roscoff Culture Collection (RCC), K/2 medium modified by Ian Probert [31]
A similar total sugars content (3.3 ± 0.04%) was obtained by considering the neutral sugars quantified by Gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and the uronic acid content obtained by m-phenylphenol colourimetric method
Summary
Microalgae have attracted great interest in various biotechnological applications, including human and animal nutrition, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals [1], representing a sustainable feedstock to supply new products and materials, as well as various high-value compounds. Different strains of microalgae can grow rapidly in well-controlled production systems (e.g., photobioreactors) [2], allowing scaling to high volumes for large-scale industrial production of microalgal biomass. Coccolithophores (classified under the phylum Haptophyta) are a large group of marine phytoplankton characterized by their external calcium carbonate plates, called coccoliths [3]. Its key function in calcite production and the marine carbon cycle is well recognized [4], the commercial value of E. huxleyi has been poorly explored as a source of valuable compounds. To valorize the biomass of this microalga via biorefinery approaches, it is important to determine its biochemical composition and their bioactive and value-added components
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