Effects of salt stress on total lipid values, fatty acid profiles, omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9, in the brown algea Sargassum boveanum on Bushehr coast

Some algae are rich sources of various beneficial lipids and fatty acids. In recent years, several studies have been performed on algae to evaluate the effect of different salinity treatments on the quantity and quality of these lipids. The present study was performed to investigate the effect of different concentrations of sodium chloride on total lipid content, fatty acid profile, and omega-3, 6, and 9 amounts in the alga Sargassum boveanum. Algae samples were collected from the shores of Bushehr Province and kept in three aquariums for 30 days in three control groups and treatments of 1 and 2 g / l sodium chloride. Then their lipid extraction was performed using Bligh and dyer method (1959). The factors of acid value (AV), peroxide value (PV), and refractive index (RI) of lipids were determined according to ISO standard methods for numbers 660 (2009), 3960 (2017), and 6320 (2017), respectively. The methylation of the samples was performed according to the standard method of 66-2-AOCS-Ce, and the analysis of fatty acids was performed by gas chromatography equipped with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The amount of fat in the treatment of one gram/liter of salt increased compared to the control group and then showed a decreasing trend in the treatment of two grams per liter; however, this difference was not significant. GC-FID analysis showed 17 types of fatty acids in each group. Among saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, palmitic acid and seronic acid showed the highest levels in all three groups, respectively. A slight increase in salinity caused a change in the values of omega-fatty acids. The findings of this study can be extended to achieve targeted mechanisms and conditions of salinity stress that increase specific fatty acids.