Variations in protein and fatty acid content in the kelp Saccharina latissima

Typ
Examensarbete på grundnivå
Program
Publicerad
2013
Författare
Jörgensen, Albin
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
The world’s population is growing at a fast rate and the demand for food grows with it. We are already exploiting our lands at almost full capacity with plantations, livestock and more. It is important for us to be able to have multiple sources of some of our most basic nutritional needs, such as proteins and fatty acids, so we do not put too much pressure on and lose some of our sources used today. The aim of this project was to determine if there is any seasonal variation in protein or fatty acid content in the kelp Saccharina latissima from three different locations around Tjärnö (Ulvillarna, Ursholmen and Yttre Vattenholmen), Sweden. The seasonal variation is interesting in order to determine the optimal time of harvest of the kelp, if it were to be cultivated. Five different methods were tested for the extraction of protein in order to see which one gave the highest yield of protein. The five methods included: 1: water extraction followed by an alkaline extraction. 2: only alkaline extraction. 3: extraction by boiling in a high concentration solution of NaOH. 4: SDS extraction. 5: trichlorolacetic acid extraction. For proteins there was a significant difference in content between harvest locations and harvest dates. The month of June was the most optimal month for harvest of the kelp, June gave an average of 0.7 % (dry weight) whilst August gave 0.4 % and October just under 0.7 % protein content in the kelp. The protein extraction method yielding the highest amount of protein was the SDS method giving about 2 % protein whilst method 1 (the main extraction method) only gave about 0.7 % protein. Only method 1 was tested on samples from all harvest dates and locations. For fatty acid extraction a newly developed method was used involving the fatty acids being extracted during alkaline conditions and followed by methylation of fatty acids. October was the optimal month with a fatty acid content of 0.4 % compared to June and August which had a content of approximately 0.25 %. The harvest location for maximal protein and fatty acid content was Yttre Vattenholmen, the protein content in June was 0.7 %, whilst both at Ulvillarna and Ursholmen there was about 0.5 % protein in June
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Energi , Livsvetenskaper , Industriell bioteknik , Energy , Life Science , Industrial Biotechnology
Citation
Arkitekt (konstruktör)
Geografisk plats
Byggnad (typ)
Byggår
Modelltyp
Skala
Teknik / material
Index