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Isolation and Identification of Odourous Compounds from a Lake Subject to Cyanobacterial Blooms
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1983
Year
EngineeringFlavoromicsCyanobacterial BloomsCyanobacteriaOdourous CompoundsLimnologyChemical ContaminantFood ChemistryEnvironmental ChemistryEnvironmental Analytical ChemistryMicrobial EcologyEnvironmental MicrobiologyLake SubjectChromatographyBuffalo Pound LakeWater QualityEcotoxicologyChemical PollutionWater EcologyPhytoplankton EcologyWater AnalysisSouthern SaskatchewanEnvironmental EngineeringWater SamplesBloom EcologyMicrobiologyEnvironmental ToxicologyMedicine
Buffalo Pound Lake in southern Saskatchewan, Canada, is subject to heavy blooms of blue-green algae, mainly Anabaena, Oscillatoria and Aphanizomenon. The occurrence of any of these species is usually followed by the appearance of pronounced tastes and odours. Water samples were extracted using a Likens- Nickerson or continuous liquid-liquid apparatus and capillary GC of the extracts showed that a large number of compounds are always present although the taste and odour vary in intensity. Many of these compounds have been identified using capillary GC-MS. Geosmin, which imparts a muddy flavour to water, was detected but methylisoborneol was absent. Other compounds present in the water included alkanes, alkylbenzenes, acetophenone, cyclohexanone, phenylacetonitrile, and α-pinene, some of which could affect the palatability of the water. Although some water samples had a musty odour extracts were frequently dominated by a pungent, smoky or tobacco flavour consistent with the presence of β-cyclocitral which was also indicated by GC-MS.