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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Bioprocess Engineering
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1589776
Profiles of volatiles in microalgae depend on the extraction and analytical methods
Provisionally accepted
Carla C. C. R. de Carvalho1,2,3*
Kilian Neves1,2,3
Sebastião V. T. F. de Almeida1,2,3
Pia Steinrücken4
Dorinde M. M. Kleinegris5,6- 1Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, IBB - Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lisboa, Portugal
- 2Department of Bioengineering, Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal
- 3Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Associate Laboratory i4HB - Institute for Health and Bioeconomy, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
- 4NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, NORCE Climate & Environment, Bergen, Norway
- 5NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, NORCE Climate & Environment, Bergen, Hordaland, Norway
- 6Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Hordaland, Norway
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The incorporation of microalgae in food products is dependent on their volatile profiles, which significantly influence their organoleptic characteristics and, consequently, consumer acceptance. However, microalgae contain a myriad of volatile compounds, and their precise impact on olfactory and gustatory perception is not easily inferred. Nonetheless, volatiles imparting a fish-like odour are generally considered undesirable. To develop enzyme processes or other methods targeting malodour compounds, they must be identified and quantified in the microalgal biomass. However, no standard method allowing the extraction of all volatiles is available. In the present study, the volatile profiles of the freshwater microalgal species Chlorella vulgaris and Arthrospira platensis and of the marine microalgal species Microchloropsis gaditana, Tetraselmis chui, and Phaeodactylum tricornutum were determined by gas chromatography. A total of five fractions were obtained by sequential elution of increasingly polar solvents and different methods to break the cells were tested. Additionally, the lipid composition of each species was determined and compared. The study clearly shows that extraction and analytical methods have a strong impact on the reported volatile and lipid profile of the cells.
Keywords: VOCs, Microalgae, Cell disruption, Volatile extraction, Organic solvents, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, GC-MS
Received: 07 Mar 2025; Accepted: 10 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 de Carvalho, Neves, de Almeida, Steinrücken and Kleinegris. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Carla C. C. R. de Carvalho, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, IBB - Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lisboa, Portugal
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