title: Validation of thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation-gas chromatography using a vertical microfurnace pyrolyzer for the compositional analysis of Fatty Acid components in microalgae.
abstract: Thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation-gas chromatography (THM-GC) in the presence of trimethylsulfonium hydroxide, using a vertical microfurnace pyrolyzer, was validated for the compositional analysis of fatty acid components in microalgae. The chromatograms of a microalga,  Pavlova lutheri , obtained under optimized THM conditions clearly showed a series of fatty acid methyl esters including thermally labile polyunsaturated fatty acid components. On the basis of these peak areas, their chemical compositions were rapidly determined without using any tedious sample pretreatment with a precision of <8% relative standard deviation. Moreover, the compositions thus obtained were in good agreement with those obtained by the conventional technique involving solvent extraction. Finally, the THM-GC technique was applied for the compositional analysis of fatty acid components in a newly found microalga,  Coccomyxa gloeobotrydiformis . The obtained data showed a high abundance (24 mol %) of α-linolenic acid components, suggesting its potential usefulness as feed sources and/or functional foods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chubu University, 1200 Matsumoto-cho, Kasugai 487-8501, Japan. yishida@isc.chubu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Shigemi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mabuchi
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sueno
mesh_terms: D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000379:methods*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D055951:Functional Food; D058087:Haptophyta / Q000737:chemistry*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008745:Methylation; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid