ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Effect of temperature on fatty acid profile of Nostoc spongiaeforme (freshwater) and marine water Nostoc calcicola (marine water): A comparative study

The Fatty acid profiling in Nostoc spongiaeforme and Nostoc calcicola was undertaken at varying growth temperature. The extraction of fatty acid was done by chloroform: methanol method and identification of various SFA, MUFA and PUFA was performed using GC-MS. The result of our study showed that amount of fatty acid content varied with varying temperature. At low temperature, the content of unsaturated fatty acid was maximum in both the Nostoc species but the amount of saturated fatty acid was reduced under the same condition. Whereas, at extreme temperature unsaturated fatty acid was least in both Nostoc species and saturated fatty acid was maximum. Both species showed higher amount of fatty acid content at 20°C and 30°C. Our study concluded that the best temperature for mesophilic cyanobacteria to produce higher amount of fatty acid content is in the range of 20-30°C.