CHLOROPHYLL A IN MACRO-VEGETABLE AS AN INDICATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS IN THE CANANEIA-IGUAGE ESTUARINE-LAGOON SYSTEM – SP, BRAZIL

Abstract

The integrity of chlorophyll-a molecule is anexcellent indicator of the state of the vegetable biomass andits determination in microalgae is very common. The macrovegetableas the smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora is apotential agent to monitoring the environmental health andchanges considering some biometric parameters and alsothe chlorophyll a concentration, but the traditionaldetermination methods including extraction with solvent in aslow and difficult process. The use of extraction withDimethyl-Sulfoxide represents a facilitation to obtain thechlorophyll a from this vegetable and a comparison with thetraditional extraction with acetone 90% certified thisprocedure that showed values 6% of increase. Dataobtained, summer 2009 from the northern of the aquaticsystem, submitted to a more important anthropic influencevaried from 0,05 to 0,089 μg/g while from the south variedfrom 0,03 to 0,06 μg/g, indicating the possible use ofpigment contents to infer the environmental changes.Index Terms ⎯ acetone, chlorophyll-a, Dimethyl-Sulfoxide,Spartina alterniflora.