Volumen 45 - Número 2: 325-330 | 2010
Article

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Fatty acid composition of three species of Codium (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta) in Chile

Franz Goecke¹, Víctor Hernández¹, Magalis Bittner¹, Mariela González², José Becerra^1* and Mario Silva¹

¹Laboratorio de Química de Productos Naturales, Departamento de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile

²Laboratorio de Ficología, Departamento de Botánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile

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The fatty acid compositions of algae show characteristic patterns accoding to species. This paper is the first to identify and compare the main fatty acids of the two endemic Codium species: C. dimorphum and C. fernandezianum found in Chile. In addition the fatty acids of the introduced species C. fragile were investigated. Palmitic acid was shown to be the main fatty acid, comprising between 28 to 54%, followed by oleic and linolenic acids. We also confirm, for the first time, the presence of hexadecatrienoic acid (C16:3) in all three species, which is suggested to be a characteristic fatty acid for Codium genus, so this can be used in chemotaxonomy for these species around the world.

Key words: Algae, chemical composition, lipids, hexadecatrienoic acid

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