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Extraction of agar from Eucheuma cottonii and Gelidium amansii seaweeds with sonication pretreatment using autoclaving method

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Abstract

The effect of sonication pretreatment condition on Eucheuma cottonii and Gelidium amansii seaweed towards agar extraction wae studied. Four parameters were changed during sonication to investigate the effects on agar yield and quality. These parameters include the time interval, concentration ratio, frequency, and intensity. The highest amount of agar extracted from Eucheuma cottonii species could be obtained from the time interval of 30 min, seaweed weight to solvent volume ratio of 1:20, the frequency of 35 Hz, and the sonication power intensity of 30%. For Gelidium amansii species, the best agar yield also could be obtained from the time interval of 30 min, 1:20 of seaweed weight to water volume ratio, the frequency of 35 Hz, and power intensity of 30%. From the experiment, sonication pretreatment significantly influenced the yield and properties of extracted agar. The sonication with autoclaved seaweed produced agar containing less sulfate content, which is an excellent chemical property for gel electrophoresis applications. The gel strength of sonication with autoclaving for both seaweeds, Eucheuma and Gelidium species was the highest among those by sonication with direct heating, which proved that sonication pretreatment with autoclaving could enhance the physical properties of the agar.

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Acknowledgment

The final version was edited and polished by Dr. Roger Z. YU.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, Semenyih, 43500, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

    Siti Sabariah Din, Kit Wayne Chew & Pau Loke Show

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei, Taiwan, 24301, China

    Yu-Kaung Chang

  3. Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia

    Siew Moi Phang

  4. Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia

    Siew Moi Phang

  5. Nanotechnology & Catalysis Research Centre, Institute of Postgraduate Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia

    Siti Sabariah Din & Joon Ching Juan

Authors
  1. Siti Sabariah Din
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  2. Kit Wayne Chew
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  3. Yu-Kaung Chang
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  4. Pau Loke Show
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  5. Siew Moi Phang
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  6. Joon Ching Juan
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Correspondence to Pau Loke Show or Joon Ching Juan.

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Supported by the University of Malaya under Equitable Society Research Cluster (ESRC) (No. GC002A-15SBS)

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Din, S.S., Chew, K.W., Chang, YK. et al. Extraction of agar from Eucheuma cottonii and Gelidium amansii seaweeds with sonication pretreatment using autoclaving method. J. Ocean. Limnol. 37, 871–880 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-019-8145-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-019-8145-6

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