Photobiota of the Tropical Red Sea: Fatty Acid Profile Analysis and Nutritional Quality Assessments.

ABSTRACT: Photosynthetic organisms are primary sources of marine-derived molecules, particularly ω3 fatty acids (FAs), which influence the quality of marine foods. It is reported that tropical organisms possess lower FA nutritional quality than those from colder oceans. However, the high biodiversity known for tropical areas may help compensate for this deficiency by producing a high diversity of molecules with nutritional benefits for the ecosystem. Here we addressed this aspect by analyzing the FA profiles of 20 photosynthetic organisms from the salty and warm Red Sea, a biodiversity hot spot, including cyanobacteria, eukaryotic microalgae, macroalgae, mangrove leaves, as well as three selected reef's photosymbiotic zooxanthellate corals and jellyfish. Using direct transesterification, gas chromat

SUBMITTER: Gozai-Alghamdi SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11820627 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature