Metabólitos voláteis de Phormidium autumnale em diferentes sistemas de cultivo

Abstract

Microalgae are a potential source of biomolecules of commercial interest due to their diversified metabolic profile capable of synthesizing different organic classes of compounds. The Phormidium autumnale is a cyanobacteria with growth ability in the three main cultivation types: photoautotrophic, mixotrophic and heterotrophic. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the profile of microalgal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) under different culture conditions. The results obtained in the experiments allowed the identification of 53 volatile organic compounds in total. In the heterotrophic cultivation using starch as carbon source, a total of 22 VOCs was identified and quantified, the least productive experiment being in the volatile fraction; already the heterotrophic culture supplemented with sucrose obtained a greater production with 34 identified compounds. Different chemical classes (aldehydes, alcohols, ketones and hydrocarbons) were found in the experiments, the majority were aldehydes and alcohols. The significant presence of these chemical classes shows that the applicability of these volatile compounds produced is extensive. Research on the profile of volatile organic compounds is required to investigate microalgae in order to identify potential candidates for use in a new generation of formulations of food, feed, biofuels, pharmaceuticals and raw material for the fine chemicals industry. In parallel to this research, the review “Microalgal Biorefineries for Bioenergy Production: Can We Move from Concept to Industrial Reality? which was published in the Journal BioEnergy Research and is attached to this document.