Fatty acid profile, volatiles and antibacterial screening of lipids of the sponge Fasciospongia cavernosa (Schmidt) collected from the Bay of Bengal (Orissa Coast)

The fatty acid composition as well as the volatiles of a lipophilic extract from the marine sponge Fasciospongia cavernosa (Schmidt) was analysed. The fatty acids (FA) were characterized by linear saturated fatty acids (33.05 %), branched saturated fatty acids (9.30 %) and mono-unsaturated fatty acids (18.07 %). A significant amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (30.79 %) was found in the total lipid, which included linoleic acid (18:2 n–6, 11.14 %), 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid/α-linolenic acid (18:3 n–3, 1.99 %), dihomo-g-linolenic acid (20:3 n–6, 2.03 %) and arachidonic acid (20:4 n–3, 0.5 %). An antibacterial assay of the lipid extract of F. cavernosa showed broad-spectrum activity against different human and fish pathogens