RAPID METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF LIPID FROM THE GREEN-ALGA BOTRYOCOCCUS-BRAUNII

Of various methods for lipid recovery in Botryococcus braunii UTEX 572 , the most effective method was disruption of the cells with a bead-be ater followed by extraction with chloroform:methanol (2:1, v/v). This gave a lipid content of 28.6% of dry wt. There was a significant relat ionship between in vivo fluorescence of cells stained with Nile Red an d lipid content in B. braunii determined gravimetrically (r(2) = 0.997 ). This suggested that the Nile Red staining as a rapid method was as good as the gravimetric method commonly used for lipid determination w hich requires toxic solvents and considerable time-consuming manipulat ions.