Rapid quantification of microalgal lipids in aqueous medium by a simple colorimetric method.
Identification of novel microalgal strains with high lipid productivity is one of the most important research topics in renewable biofuel research. However, the major bottleneck in the strain screening process is that currently known methods for the estimation of microalgal lipid are laborious and time-consuming. The present study successfully employed sulpho-phospho-vanillin (SPV) colorimetric method for direct quantitative measurement of lipids within liquid microalgal culture. The SPV reacts with lipids to produce a distinct pink color, and its intensity can be quantified using spectrophotometric methods by measuring absorbance at 530nm. This method was employed for a rapid quantification of intracellular lipid contents within Chlorella sp., Monoraphidium sp., Ettlia sp. and Nannochloropsis sp., all of which were found to have lipid contents ranging in between 10% and 30%. Subsequent analysis of the biomass using gas chromatography confirmed that our protocol is highly accurate (R(2)=0.99).
Advanced Biomass R&D Center, #2502 Building W1-3, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
Sanjiv K
SK
Mishra
Advanced Biomass R&D Center, #2502 Building W1-3, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
William I
WI
Suh
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
Wasif
W
Farooq
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
Myounghoon
M
Moon
Advanced Biomass R&D Center, #2502 Building W1-3, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
Anupama
A
Shrivastav
Advanced Biomass R&D Center, #2502 Building W1-3, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea; Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, United States. Electronic address: minsungpark0@kaist.ac.kr.
Min S
MS
Park
Advanced Biomass R&D Center, #2502 Building W1-3, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: jwyang@kaist.ac.kr.
Ji-Won
JW
Yang
D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D003124:Colorimetry / Q000379:methods*; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis*; D058086:Microalgae / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D013045:Species Specificity; D014867:Water
D008055:Lipids; D014867:Water
Colorimetric; Gas chromatography; Lipid; Microalgae; Vanillin