Fatty acid characterization of indigenous cyanobacterial strains isolated from five hot springs in Indonesia

Cyanobacteria have been known to produce lipids that are potential for biodiesel. Cyanobacteria isolated from Indonesia are called Indonesia indigenous cyanobacteria. This study was conducted to determine the characterization of fatty acids contained in cyanobacteria originating from Indonesia which were isolated from 5 hot springs in Indonesia. For some 29 strains of cyanobacteria consisting of 8 genera have performed the analysis of fatty acids (FA) by extraction method via protocol in SHERLOCK Microbial Identification (Midi) System version 4.0, 2001 MIDI, Inc. The resulting data is as follows. All strains of 8 genera (Synechococcus, Merismopedia, Thermosynechococcus, Stanieria, Leptolyngbia, Westiellopsis, Mastigocladus, and Nostoc) have saturated fatty acids (SFA) and unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA and PUFA). The content of saturated fatty acids ranged from 27.77 to 50.56%, while the content of unsaturated fatty acids ranged from 7.58 to 63.31%. All strains have SFA Palmitic acid (16:00) which ranges from 23.23 to 42.64%. Meanwhile, unsaturated fatty acids Palmitoleic acid (16:1 wc7) are owned by almost all strains except Westiellopsis which range from 1.75 to 51.78%. Content of unsaturated fatty acids Oleic acid (18: w9c) ranges from 1.43 to 35.78% mainly in Leptolyngbia, Westiellopsis, and Mastigocladus. All strains have MUFA ranging from 7.58 to 63.31%, whereas PUFA is only owned by filamentous strains (Leptolyngbia, Westiellposis, Mastigocladus, and Nostoc). From the results of the research can be seen that 29 strains of cyanobacteria of 8 genera have potential fatty acids as raw materials of biodiesel under certain conditions.