The macroalgal ensemble of Golfo Nuevo (Patagonia, Argentina) as a potential source of valuable fatty acids for nutritional and nutraceutical purposes

Abstract

The purpose of the present work was to study lipid content and fatty acid profile in fifteen macroalgal species typical of the coastal environments of northern Patagonia, Argentina. Total lipid content was observed to range between 2 and 12% of dry biomass, reaching an average of 7‐–12% in some abundant and globally distributed species, such as Ulva spp., Codium spp., Ceramium virgatum, and Undaria pinnatifida. Total fatty acid content was found to exceed neither 3% of dry biomass nor 30% of total lipids in any of the species studied. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were dominant in all the brown species under study, particularly in the sporophyll of U. pinnatifida. Ceramium virgatum and Ulva sp. (tubular enteromorphoid thallus) were also rich in PUFAs. Essential fatty acids (linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid) and other valuable long-chain PUFAs, such as eicosapentaenoic acid, stearidonic acid, and arachidonic acid, were abundant in these species, arachidonic acid reaching up to 10 mg g−1 in U. pinnatifida sporophyll. In contrast, docosahexaenoic acid was only recorded at trace levels. Taken together, the results from the present study lead to conclude that the high levels of lipid content are indicative of potential applications of some of the most abundant species in the Patagonian coasts as biomass feedstock for lipid-based bioproducts. In line with this conclusion, eicosapentaenoic, stearidonic and arachidonic acid from the species studied could, in particular, be used for nutritional and nutraceutical purposes.