Fatty acid composition of eleven algae from coastal zones of Qatar.

The fatty acid composition of eleven species of algae belonging to Rhodophyceae, collected from the coastal zones of Qatar, are reported. The major fatty acids identified were palmitic (16:0), myristic (14:0), oleic (18:1), eicosadienoic (20:2), linoleic (18:2), stearic (18:0) and hexadecaenoic acid (16:1). The fatty acids were characterized by the relatively high abundance of polyunsaturated acids, while the C18 unsaturated acids were appreciably more abundant than the C20 unsaturated acids.