An essential oil from the brown alga Sargassum thunbergii, prepared by a simultaneous distillation extraction method, contained in two types of volatile polyenes with a terminal double bond such as (6Z,9Z,12Z,15Z,18Z)-1,6,9,12,15,18-henicosahexaene and (6Z,9Z,12Z,15Z)-1,6,9,12,15-henicosapentaene and with their saturated terminal structures such as (3Z,6Z,9Z,12Z,15Z,18Z)-3,6,9,12,15,18-henicosahexaene and (3Z,6Z,9Z,12Z,15Z)-3,6,9,12,15-henicosapentaene. These volatile polyenes were identified by comparison with the GC-MS and NMR spectra of synthetics. The polyenes with the saturated terminal structures were found in the brown algae for the first time.
Keywords: essential oil; marine alga; marine aroma; polyene; volatile.