Fatty acid composition of the cold-water-inhabiting freshwater red alga Sirodotia Kylin

Four samples of freshwater alga Sirodotia (class Rhodophyceae) collected from two distinct streams in the Mahabaleshwar, Satara district (1,732 m a.s.l.) of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra (India) were analysed for their fatty acid content. The presence of 32 fatty acids was revealed, of which 13 were saturated (SFA), 8 were monounsaturated (MUFA) and 11 were polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty acids. The major finding was the presence of three pharmaceutically and neutraceutically important PUFAs: arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentanoeic acid (EPA), and docosahexanoiec acid (DHA). The major fatty acids identified were palmitic (16:0), cis-11,14 icodienoic (20:2), behenic (22:0), cis-8,11,14 eicosatrienoic(20:3n6), cis-4,7,10,13,16,19 docosahexanoeic (22:6n3), cis-13,16 docosadienoic (22:2), erucic (22:1n9), -5,8,11,14,17 eicosapentaenoic (20:5n3), trichosonoic (23:0), nervonic (24:0), arachidonic (20:4n6), cis-10 pentadecanoic (15:1), cis-11,14,17 eicosatrienoic (20:3n3), and myristic acid (14:0). The total PUFA contents ranged from 31.45 to 40.37%. The fatty acids were characterised by the relatively high abundance of PUFAs, while C20 unsaturated acids were appreciably more abundant than C18 unsaturated acids. This is the first report on fatty acid profiles of the genus Sirodotia.