Mechanism of Fishy Odor Compounds Metabolized by Algae

Fishy odor, part of the taste and odor existing in the drinking water, often cause people to reflect poor water quality, and even lead to social panic. The typical fishy compounds are primarily amines and polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs), which are widely found in surface water, particularly during the algae blooms. The properties of the small molecular weight, low odor threshold and difficult removing, have received a great concern in the field of environment protection. Because of their environmental hazards, the source, physical-chemical properties, genotoxicity and generation mechanism of the fishy compounds were introduced in this paper in order to remove the compounds by controlling the precursors and generation pathway. The results show that amines are produced by the nitrogenous compounds in catalysis of microorganisms and enzymes, while PUAs are produced by polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The algal cells cleavage is a key factor of producing fishy odor.