Cellular fatty acid (FA) composition was utilized as a taxonomic tool to discriminate between different
Aspergillus
species. Several of the tested species had the same FA composition and different relative FA concentrations. The most important FAs were palmitic acid (C16:0), estearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid (C18:1) and linoleic acid (C18:2), which represented 95% of Aspergillus FAs. Multivariate data analysis demonstrated that FA analysis is a useful tool for differentiating species belonging to genus
Aspergillus. All the species analyzed showed significantly FA acid profiles (p < 0.001). Furthermore, it will be possible to distinguish among
Aspergillus spp. in the
Flavi Section. FA composition can serve as a useful tool for the identification of filamentous fungi.
