Comparison of fatty acid compositions of four green algae and four brown algae

The fatty acid compositions of eight seaweeds from green algae and brown algae were analyzed. Some specific fatty acid profiles of the seaweeds as chemotaxonomy markers were found. The characteristic fatty acids of the four green algae are 16: 0, 16: 1ω7, 18: 4ω3, 18: 1ω7, 18: 2ω6, 18: 3ω3 and 18: 1ω9, and the dominative ones are 18: 1ω7 and 18: 3ω3. The dominative fatty acid profiles of the four brown algaes were 16: 0, 18: 1ω9, 18: 2ω6, 18: 3ω3, 18: 4ω3, 20: 5ω3 and 20: 4ω6. And the representative feature of the brown algae was the higher contents of octadeca-carbon unsaturated fatty acid and twenty-carbon unsaturated fatty acid. In addition, the brown algae contained higher levels of EPA which was more obvious in Laminaria japonica Aresch and Undaria pinnatifida Sur. The analysis result of 8 seaweeds from 5 genus of 2 phylums by carrying out a cluster analysis of fatty acids showed, there is a good truly relationship among these lines to some extent. This study provides evidence that fatty acid compositions of seaweeds may be a good assistive technical method for classification and quantitive evaluation.