Browsing by Subject "Ulva intestinalis"

The chemical composition of macroalgae varies between species, habitat and environmental conditions. The lipid content of macroalgae changes between seasons and different environmental factors such as light, nutrient levels and temperature. The lipid levels are higher during winter and spring than in the summer. Macroalgae from the cold water are richer in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) than macroalgae from the warm waters. Nutrient limitation increases the synthesis of lipids in macroalgae. Studies show also that brown macroalgae (Phaeophyceae) have higher lipid content than green (Chlorophyta) and red (Rhodophyta) macroalgae. Macroalgae produce neutral lipids mainly triacylglycerols (TAGs) under stress condition so they shift from membrane lipid synthesis to storage lipid synthesis. The content of triacylglycerols in macroalgae is of interest because triacylglycerols can be used as bases of biodiesel. In the experiment we wanted to define the application of Baltic Sea macroalgae as raw material for biodiesel. We also studied how the different levels of nutrients affect the content of total lipids and fatty acid composition in the studied macroalgae. The hypothesis was that the studied macroalgae would produce more lipids in nutrient limited conditions than in nutrient replete conditions. At the same time, the differences between the content of lipids between macroalgae species was examined. Two green macroalgae and one red macroalgae species were used in the experiment (Ulva intestinalis, Cladophora glomerata and Ceramium tenuicorne) to study the total lipid content and the fatty acid composition of the macroalgae. The macroalgae species were selected because they are typical macroalgae species in the Baltic Sea's littoral zone. The experiment was conducted as a factor experiment for 10 days in August and October in the Tvärminne Zoological Station. The experiments nutrient treatments were designed as to study the effect of nitrogen and phosphorus separately and together on macroalgae lipid content. The macroalgae lipids were extracted with chloroform:methanol (2:1 -vol/vol) mixture. The macroalgae lipids and the fatty acid composition were studied with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) from extracted and esterified fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). We also fractionated the neutral lipids from the total lipids to quantify the amount of neutral lipids. The total lipid content of the studied macroalgae species varied between specie but not between nutrient treatments. The total lipids contents ranged from 31 to 193 mg l-1, with the lowest total lipid content found in U. intestinalis in the October experiment. The total lipid content of the macroalgae accounted only 2% of the macroalgae species dry weight. The total fatty acid content of the studied macroalgae species ranged from 0,7 to 9,0 mg l-1with the highest values found in C. glomerata and the lowest in U. intestinalis in the October experiment. The total fatty acid content differed between species but not between nutrient treatments. The fatty acid composition of the macroalgae varied slightly but there were similarities between the fatty acid compositions between the studied species. The saturated fatty acid contents were the highest among the studied macroalgae (42,0-49,7%). U. intestinalis in the August and October experiment contained more polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) (45,1%; 46,9%) than C. glomerata (23,2%) and C. tenuicorne (22,8%). The major fatty acid was the palmitic acid (C16:0) in all the studied macroalgae species (32,3-45,7% of total fatty acids). The neutral lipid amount from U. intestinalis differed between August and October specimens but didn't differ between nutrient treatments. The neutral lipid content ranged from 0,6 to 4,2 mg l-1 with the lowest amounts found in U. intestinalis from Octobers experiment. The fatty acid composition of the neutral lipids in U. intestinalis resembled one another. The total lipid content of the studied macroalgae was different from results of other studies made by macroalgae because the sampling location and the season affects the total lipid content of macroalgae. The low amounts of total lipids and fatty acids in U. intestinalis in October can be explained by the fact, that U. intestinalis was not healthy at the time of the experiment. Comparing the total lipid contents of the macroalgae is therefore difficult because of the rundown nature of the U. intestinalis in October. The studied macroalgae didn't contain the highest amounts of lipids in the nutrient deprived conditions because the macroalgae experienced shortage of nitrogen for example in the control and added phosphorus treatments. The macroalgae should have been given the opportunity to adjust to the new conditions before the experiment. The different water temperature between the August and October experiment could account more of the differences between the total lipid content of the macroalgae than the nutrient treatments. The fatty acid composition of the macroalgae was similar to those reported from other studied. The low amount of fatty acids supports the findings of the studies because typically most lipids are bound to membranes such as glycolipids and phospholipids. On the other hand, the high saturated fatty acid content reveals that the macroalgae were in stress conditions. The macroalgae are suited as raw material for biodiesel because of the high total lipid and saturated fatty acid content of the macroalgae species. The macroalgae could be grown to produce more lipids in nutrient deprived than in nutrient saturated conditions by choosing the suited macroalgae and the optimal sampling season. The total lipid content of macroalgae can be enhanced with two-stage nitrogen supply growth strategy which has been demonstrated in the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. In the first stage the macroalgae could be grown in nitrogen replete conditions to optimize biomass productivity. In the second stage the macroalgae would be grown in nitrogen limited conditions to increase lipid content.