Some Chemical Characteristics of Carrageenan from Cultivated Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) Doty in Indonesia

Algae > Volume 8(2); 1993 > Article

Algae 1993;8(2): 245-248.

Rachmaniar Satari

Research and Development Center for Oceanology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences

ABSTRACT

Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) Doty is the variety mostly cultivated in Indonesia. The seaweed produced is exported, some is used as a source for carrageenan industry and other purposes for domestic use. As an export commodity, the quality of the seaweed from cultivation in Indonesia as well as a carrageenan content and their chemical characteristics they produced art still little known. The purpose of this research is to determine the carrageenan content and some of the chemical characteristics of the carrageenan that were obtained from cultivated K. alvarezii from South Sulawesi and Batam Island in Indonesia. The determination of carrageenan content showed that content of carrageenan obtained from South Sulawesi is 54.90% while from Batam is 46.50%. Chemical analysis showed that carrageenan from South Sulawesi has a loss on drying 10.88%, total ash 20.92%, acid insoluble ash 0.84%, arsen 0.03 ppm, heavy metal Pb 2.52 ppm, sulfates 24.24%,3, 6-anhydrogalactose 19.64% and galactose 20.75%. Carrageenan from Batam has a loss on drying 11.31%, total ash 39.12%, acid insoluble ash 1.07%, arsen (As) 0.05 ppm, heavy meta Pb 6.07 ppm, sulfates 18.80%,3, 6-anhydro-galactose 16.9% and galactose 16.48. Viscosities were 18 cps for carrageenan from South Sulawesi and 14 cps for carrageenan from Batam. The gel strength were 260 g cm super(-2) for carrageenan from South Sulawesi and 138 g cm super(-2) for carrageenan from Batam.

Key words: seaweed, Kappaphycus, carrageenan, chemical characteristics