Evaluation of agar from three species of Gracilaria from Panay and Guimaras islands

Abstract

Agar from three species of Gracilaria, G. changii G. coronopifolia, and Gracilariopsis heteroclada, collected form Panay and Guimaras islands was evaluated. Each species was pretreated with NaOH solution before extraction. Highest agar yields were obtained following alkaline pretreatment at the lowest concentration (1% NaOH) for all species. Highest gel strengths were obtained at different alkaline pretreatment conditions: 644 ± 3.4 g cm^-2 at 3 % NaOH for 60 min for G. changii, 641 ± 11.9 g cm-2 at 5 % NaOH for 30 min for G. heteroclada, and 170 g cm^-2 at 5 % NaOH for 30 min G. coronopifolia. Agar gelling temperatures ranged from 38.5-40ºC and agar melting temperature ranged from 80.5-85 ºC. Specific viscosity was highest for agar from G. changii at 18 cps. Moisture and ash contents ranged from 8.04-15.20 % and 4.32-4.98%, respectively. Based on the result for this study, G. heteroclada and G. changii are two species which merit further studies for their prospective commercial value to the different industries using agar.