Chrysochromulina sp.: A proposed lipid standard for the algal biofuel industry and its application to diverse taxa for screening lipid content

Expanding efforts in both commercial and research facilities will require the screening and monitoring of candidate algal strains for lipid synthesis. Universal adoption of a reference standard will provide a common platform to compare the fatty acid compositions of different algal strains grown under diverse environmental conditions and subjected to different oil recovery methods. A reproducibly generated natural matrix standard will have two distinct advantages: (a) as a reproducibly generated standard, it can supplant reference products that vary markedly among suppliers; and (b) the use of a natural matrix standard will help in the identification and elimination of errors in lipid extraction, derivatization and analysis.