Fabio Mendez1, 2, 3, Ali Rivero5, Máximo Frangopulos2, 4, 6, Juan Zolezzi7, Andrés Mansilla1, 2, 4
1 Laboratorio de Ecosistemas Marinos Antárticos y Subantárticos, Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile.
2 Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile.
3 Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Antárticas y Subantárticas, Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas Chile.
4 Millennium Institute Biodiversity of Antarctic and Subantarctic Ecosystems (BASE).
5 Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Agrícolas, Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile.
6 Centro de Investigación GAIA Antártica, Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile.
7 Centro de Excelencia en Biomedicina de Magallanes (CEBIMA), Punta Arenas, Chile.
The sub-Antarctic ecoregion of Magellan, a biogeographic area located in the southern South American continent, is unique in the world. This has no latitudinal replicas and presents a considerable environmental heterogeneity. Marine flora highlight with high endemism and the largest reserves of marine forests of brown macroalgae. Brown macroalgae have a great dominance along the coast. These are considered ecosystem engineers, because they provide and maintain shelter, feeding and reproduction sites for different species of biological and commercial importance. In addition, they have an important content of lipids, amino acids and fibers for both the food industry and biomedicine, being essential components to combat prevalent pathologies in the population. The aim was to determine the fatty acid content in the different thallus structures (holdfast, stipe and frond) of Macrocystis pyrifera. Individuals were collected in Rinconada Bulnes (53°35ʼ47.76” S; 70°56ʼ08.52” W) during spring 2021. Lipid extraction and fatty acid reading with gas chromatography was performed at the Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de Magallanes. Total lipid content showed higher values for stipe (3.73%) and frond (2.74%). The fatty acid profile showed higher values of monounsaturated fatty acids in stipe (Ʃ 44.7%) and holdfast (Ʃ 43.2%), while higher values of polyunsaturated fatty acids were observed in frond (Ʃ 32.9%). To know how Oleic acid (stipe and holdfast) and Linolenic and Eicosapentanoic acids (frond) are distributed in different structures of the thallus of M. pyrifera, allows us to know the nutritional and biomedical contribution.