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Isochrysis galbana is a marine microalga which highlights by containing a great diversity of antioxidant biomolecules. It shows a high content of lipids that can be used in aquaculture and biofuel, its high polyunsaturated fatty acid profile such as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) or for having high fucoxanthin content (carotenoid group). For a century, this microalga is very well known as feed for bivalves, larva of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. Transesterification is the necessary reaction to be able to derivative the fatty acids in methylated fatty acids (AGM) and thus be able to identify and quantify them. It is a key step to optimize and therefore know the improvement of the obtained fatty acid profile of study biomass. Hence, this work presents the significant difference of eight methods for obtaining fatty acids from the direct and indirect transesterification reaction (MTD and MTI, respectively). Moreover, acidic and alkaline catalysts were also used (AC1, AC2 and AL1 and AL2). The results presented better contents of AGMs (methylated fatty acids) respecting dry biomass in the MTD-AL1 method with ~ 6% and a relative abundance of DHA of ~ 12 % in MTI-AL2. In addition, the most abundant fatty acid profile was MTD-AL2 with 57.66 % in polyunsaturated. On the other hand, thanks to the addition of an internal standard in the experiences, it was possible to identify that the MTD-AL1 and MTI-AC1 methods were the most efficient in the transesterification obtained with ~ 93 % and ~ 87 %, respectively. Therefore, the method that is selected for the correct reading of fatty acids present in any biomass is relevant to detect a profile with more unsaturation as has been purchased with the microalga I. galbana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unsaturated fatty acids (FA) are degraded generating a high number of compounds, hence the study of this phenomenon resulting from high complexity. From the Cuban royal palm fruits, a lipid extract mainly compound by a mixture of free FA between 8 and 18 carbon atoms, with possible applications as nutraceutic and/or medicine is obtained. In this mixture, the presence of unsaturated FA like oleic and linoleic, could provoke autoxidation processes that affect their efficacy and safety. Taking to account that autoxidation products from R. regia lipid extract are unknown until now, in this paper its degradation products formed by oxidation, photolysis and thermolysis were determined. The organoleptic characteristics, peroxide (PV) and tiobarbituric acid values (TBAV), and contents of conjugated dienes (CD) and FA contents were determined in samples of the extract subjected to oxidation (hydrogen peroxide), photolysis (UV light) and thermolysis (80 °C and 185 °C), and their results were compared with those of a sample without degradation. It was determined that the oxidation was the one that caused the biggest degradation in the unsaturated FA, as well as the biggest PV, while the thermolysis went the one that bore to bigger contents of TBAV and CD. The above-mentioned evidences that the imposed stress conditions achieved the degradation of the extract, in a similar way that its happens in the vegetable oils with low contents of polyunsaturated FA, achieving preliminarily determine, so the main groups of compounds generated from the forced degradation of Roystonea regia lipid extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The best choice for feeding the newborn child is breast milk, and when it is not possible to breastfeed a baby, the breast milk is replaced by lacteal formula, which is why numerous studies focus their attention on the analysis of the diverse components of baby formula as well as functions in the breastfed baby. Fatty acids are components of great nutritional importance in the fetus and in the newborn child. Nowadays it is estimated that the fetus, during the last trimester of the gestational period and the newborn child, during the first six months of life, need a great contribution of araquidonic and docosahexaenoic acids, due to the fact that the speed of transformation of the predecessors to the hepatic level are not sufficient to cover the metabolic requirements of these fatty acids and it is the mother who contributes them through placental transport during gestation and her milk during lactation. The Organization of Food and Agriculture (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Society of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Pediatric Nutrition (ESPGHAN) and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that lacteal formula imitate the composition of the breast milk, especially in the fatty polyunsaturated acids (PUFA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We characterized the growth and biochemical composition of a Chaetoceros muelleri strain from the Araya Peninsula, Sucre, Venezuela. The microalga was cultured under laboratory conditions (25 ± 1°C, 156 μE m-2 s-1 and 12:12 photoperiod) during 13 days, using two culture methods: batch and semicontinuous culture with a daily renewal rate of 30%. Cell density was determined and cells from each treatment were measured. The protein, lipid, carbohydrate and fatty acid contents were quantified to compare the quality of the Araya strain in both culture systems. Cell density showed little variability in the semicontinuous system during the steady-state phase (1.3 × 106 cells mL-1 on average), but increased significantly in the batch system, reaching 3.5 × 106 cells mL-1. Proteins, lipids and carbohydrates did not show significant variations in the semicontinuous system, with mean values of 21.4 ± 0.8, 18.4 ± 0.8 and 4.1 ± 0.1 pg cells-1, respectively. In the batch system, however, these macromolecules showed greater variability: proteins 3.5-21.1 pg cells-1, lipids 8.5-11.6 pg cells-1 and carbohydrates 4.2-18.1 pg cells-1. Higher levels of saturated (47.5%) and monounsaturated (34.8%) fatty acids were found in the semicontinuous system, whereas the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (31.4%) was higher in the batch system, in particular of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5 n-3) (16 ± 2% of total fatty acids). Cell size did not vary significantly in the two culture systems and the mean width and length were 5 and 7.5 μm, respectively. The Araya strain of C. muelleri can be used as a food source for cultured larvae, the semicontinuous system providing a more stable nutritional quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decades, scientific advances in the knowledge of anti-inflammatory properties of lipids have lead the development of new formulas for enteral and parenteral nutrition. These products have been utilised as treatment for a variety of inflammatory diseases. In this review we expose the effects of lipids used in enteral nutriton on different inflammatory pathologies such as inflammatory bowel disease, atherosclerosis, lung fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and others. During inflammatory diseases, eicosanoids are produced from polyunsaturated fatty acids present in cellular membranes. Inflammatory activity of these molecules depends on the nature of their precursors: when arachidonic acid (n-6) is present, pro-inflammatory molecules are released, whereas eicosapentaenoic acid (n-3)-derived eicosanoids are weakly inflammatory. In this way, fish oils, rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, increase the content of eicosapentaenoic-eicosanoids and decrease arachidonic acid in immune and endothelial cells leading a lower inflammatory eicosapentaenoic-derived eicosanoids. Likewise, oleic acid exhibits anti-inflammatory effects by preventing the release of particular chemotactic molecules. In summary, enteral diets supplemented with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and oleic acid benefits the treatment of patients with inflammatory pathologies, leading better outcomes, and decreasing the doses of anti-inflammatory drugs, which exhibit important secondary effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]