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Seasonal variation of the agar quality and chemical composition of G racilaria veleroae and G racilaria vermiculophylla ( R hodophyceae, G racilariaceae) from B aja C alifornia S ur, M exico
Author(s) -
RodríguezMontesinos Yoloxochitl Elizabeth,
ArvizuHiguera Dora Luz,
HernándezCarmona Gustavo,
MuñozOchoa Mauricio,
MurilloÁlvarez Jesús Iván
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
phycological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.438
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1835
pISSN - 1322-0829
DOI - 10.1111/pre.12008
Subject(s) - biology , agar , chemical composition , composition (language) , food science , zoology , seasonality , yield (engineering) , ecology , chemistry , bacteria , materials science , linguistics , genetics , philosophy , organic chemistry , metallurgy
Summary Yield and physico‐chemical properties of agar from G racilaria veleroae E . Y . D awson and G racilaria vermiculophylla ( O hmi) P apenfuss were studied and the chemical composition of the two seaweeds was determined. Samples were collected seasonally from summer 2003 to spring 2005. The agar yield did not vary significantly between seasons for both species. The lowest agar gel strength was obtained from G . veleroae (207.5 g cm –2 ) in summer 2003 and the highest from G . vermiculophylla (793.1 g cm –2 ) in winter 2004. Melting temperatures and hysteresis were higher in G . vermiculophylla , whereas gelling temperatures and 3,6‐anhydrogalactose content were higher for G . veleroae . Moisture, ash, crude fiber, and ether extract showed no significant seasonal variation for G . veleroae . The chemical composition of G . vermiculophylla showed significant seasonal variation. G . vermiculophylla possesses a better agar quality than G . veleroae and is a species that could be considered as a source of agar for commercial use.