CHARACTERIZATION OF ALGAE BY PYROLYSIS DIRECT CHEMICAL IONIZATION (TANDEM) MASS-SPECTROMETRY

Several marine algae, belonging to the classes of brown, red and green algae, were investigated by pyrolysis-direct chemical ionization mass spectrometry. Factor-discriminant analysis techniques applied to the pyrograms enabled differentiation between these classes. Pyrograms indicated relatively high levels of mannitol in brown algae and relatively high levels of methylhexose in red algae as was confirmed by tandem mass spectrometry. Codium fragile, a green algal strain, was characterized by higher intensities of peptide markers in its pyrogram. Analytical data obtained from these peptide markers were compared with those from Spirulina madras, a micro-algal species.