The Invasive Seaweed <i>Agarophyton vermiculophyllum</i> from Oualidia Lagoon (Northwestern Moroccan Atlantic Coast) as a Source of Agar: Yield, Chemical Characteristics, and Rheological Properties
2023
Amal Nadri | Zahira Belattmania | Abdellatif Chaouti | Fouad Bentiss | Charafeddine Jama | Fouzia Hmimid | Abdeltif Reani | Brahim Sabour
Agar is a hydrophilic biopolymer extracted from red seaweed. This phycocolloid consists of two components: agarose and agaropectin. In the present work, agar extracted from the invasive red seaweed <i>Agarophyton vermiculophyllum</i> was characterized using physical, chemical, and spectroscopic analyses to investigate the effect of alkaline pretreatment on agar properties. Two extraction conditions, native and alkali-pretreated agars, were comparatively studied. The native yield (28.4 ± 0.9%) was higher than that of the alkaline-pretreated agar (20.4 ± 0.8%). The alkali-pretreated agar showed higher gel strength (763.8 ± 57.0g cm<sup>−2</sup>), gelling (36.5 ± 0.9 °C), and melting (83.2 ± 0.6 °C) temperatures and increased 3,6-anhydrogalactose (26.2 ± 1.9%) and decreased sulfate contents (6.2 ± 0.8%) compared with native agar (gel strength: 204.8 ± 17.10g cm<sup>−2</sup>, gelling temperature: 29.5 ± 0.9 °C, melting temperature: 73.4 ± 0.7 °C, 3,6-AG content: 13.8 ± 0.7%, sulfate content: 10.5 ± 0.5%). The alkaline pretreatment improved the agar’s gelling properties and significantly influenced its chemical properties. In view of the obtained results, <i>A. vermiculophyllum</i> might potentially be thought of as a viable source for the agar industry in Morocco, serving as a local source of agar.
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