Lipidome in-depth characterization highlights the nutritional value and species-specific idiosyncrasies of different Ulva species.

The genus Ulva comprises a large number of species widespread in the world, several of which are of commercial value, mainly for their nutritional benefits. However, identifying Ulva species is notoriously difficult, which largely explains why very few studies have attempted to characterize physiological and nutritional differences within the genus. If environmental modulation of seaweed lipid biomass composition for a number of species is well-documented, much less is known about genetic-driven differences in lipid profiles within a species or a genus. In this study, we analyzed the lipid profile of strains belonging to three species of foliose Ulva grown in the same conditions. Fatty acid profiling revealed the presence of 25 different fatty acids, palmitic acid being the most abundant fatty acid (FA) present in all species (35.1-41.2%). Important differences between the three species studied (U. australis, U. lacinulata and U. rigida) were observed. U. lacinulata had...