Extraction of pigments and fatty acids from the green alga Scenedesmus obliquus (Chlorophyceae)
K.H. Wiltshire, M. Boersma, A. Möller, H. Buhtz-2000
Aquatic Ecology, 34 (2): 119-126
Abstract:
In this paper, the efficiency of pigment and fatty acid extraction from
resistant algae using Scenedesmus obliquus as an example was examined. We
found that adding quartz sand and solvent to freeze-dried algal material and
subsequent extraction in an ultrasound bath for 90 min at -4 °C
resulted in excellent extraction of these compounds. This extraction method
was compared with a method regularly used for extraction of fatty acids and
pigments, i.e. addition of solvents to algal material with subsequent
incubation. Our extraction using the ultrasound and sand method was about
twice as efficient as this method for both pigments and fatty acids. The
ultrasound method is simple, extracts over 90% of the different substances
in one step and conserves the relationships of pigments and fatty acids. In
addition, no alteration- or breakdown products were observed with the new
method. Thus, this method allows accurate quantitative extraction of both
pigments and fatty acids from Scenedesmus obliquus and other algae. The
method was also been found to be as effective for Cryptomonas erosa
(Cryptophyceae), Cyclotella meneghiniana (Bacillariophyceae), Microcystis
aeruginosa (Cyanophyceae), and Staurastrum paradoxum (Chlorophyceae,
Desmidiaceae) and is thus applicable to a wide spectrum of algae.
(Max-Planck-Institut für Limnologie, Postfach 165,
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