Characterisation of the volatile profile of microalgae and cyanobacteria using solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

Abstract

Microalgae and microalgae-derived ingredients are one of the top trends in the food industry. However, consumers’ acceptance and purchase intention of a product will be largely affected by odour and flavour. Surprisingly, the scientific literature present a very limited number of studies on the volatile composition of microalgae and cyanobacteria. In order to fill the gap, the main objective of the present study was to elucidate the volatile composition of seven microalgal and cyanobacterial strains from marine and freshwaters, with interest for the food industry while establishing its potential impact in odour. Among the seven selected strains, Arthrospira platensis showed the highest abundance and chemical diversity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Aldehydes, ketones, and alcohols were the families with the highest diversity of individual compounds, except in Arthrospira platensis and Scenedesmus almeriensis that showed a profile dominated by branched hydrocarbons. Marine strains presented a higher abundance of sulfur compounds than freshwater strains, while the ketones individual profile seemed to be more related to the taxonomical domain. The results of this study indicate that the VOCs composition is mainly driven by the individual strain although some volatile profile characteristics could be influenced by both environmental and taxonomical factors.

Active aroma compounds assessment of processed and non-processed micro- and macroalgae by solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry targeting seafood analogs

“…These results agree with Coleman et al (2022) who refer 3,5-octadien-2one as one of the major compounds that contribute to the overall aroma of NO and TC and confer a mushroom/earthy smell. Moreover, previous studies related the seafood-like odor in microalgae to their high content of diketones, such as 3,5-octadien-2-one (Van Durme et al, 2013;Coleman et al, 2022;Moran et al, 2022). Similarly, our results also suggested that 3,5-octadien-2-one may have a major contribution to the aroma not only in the raw microalgae matrix but also in c and w NO samples, though in a milder way in the processed samples.…”

“…In microalgae, alcohols are mainly formed as a result of secondary decomposition of hydroperoxides of fatty acids, except for branched alcohols which come from carbohydrates via glycolysis or from amino acids through the Ehrlich pathway (Giri et al, 2010). In contrast to other studies (Coleman et al, 2022;Moran et al, 2022), 1-octen-3-ol does not seem to have an impact on the overall aroma (Van Durme et al, 2013), although the isomer trans-2-octen-1-ol shows an effect. In the present study, 1,5-octadien-3-ol has high OAV for NO and TC, especially in the raw form.…”

“…The origin of ketones is variable, but generally linear ketones are derived from lipid oxidation, while methyl ketones may result from the β-oxidation of the fatty acids and subsequent decarboxylation (Moran et al, 2022). In general, saturated ketones are related to sweet, floral, and fruity odor notes, while unsaturated ketones are responsible for green odor notes.…”

“…Although algae have been reported to be used as a flavor ingredient in plant-based seafood alternatives and some studies have found similar VOCs between algae and seafood (Coleman et al, 2022;Moran et al, 2022), to the best of the authors' knowledge, there are no studies on the VOCs present in algae in different matrices resulting from food processing, such as raw, cooked, and cooking water samples. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the potential of micro-and macroalgae to be used as flavor ingredients in plant-based shrimp alternatives.…”

Identification of Volatiles of the Dinoflagellate Prorocentrum cordatum

“…The analyses were performed on the axenic P. cordatum CCMP 1329 and xenic P. cordatum CCMP 1529 cultures, each with three biological replicates, as well as the respective medium control samples (Figure 1). The medium also proved to release volatiles, mostly hydrocarbons, which have been reported as algal constituents by others, but which are obviously contaminations [34,35], complicating the analyses. Nevertheless, due to the good chromatographic separation, compounds originating from the algae were clearly detectable because they were absent in the medium control.…”