PRODUCTION OF SEMI REFINE CARRAGEENAN (SRC) FROM FRESH Kappaphycus alvarezii USING MODIFIED TECHNIQUE WITH MINIMUM USE OF FUEL
Abstract: Semi refine
carrageenan (SRC) is generally produced by cooking dried Kappaphycus
alvareziiinto hot alkali solution at temperature of 80ºC for 2 hours. However,
the temperature fluctuationduring the production process affects to the
increase of production cost and the reduction of theyield as well as the
decrease of SRC quality. The improvement of this process can be achieved
bysoaking immediately fresh K. alvarezii into cold alkali solution, called cold
alkali technique. Inorder to obtain its optimum condition, modification of SRC
production process using cold alkalitechnique had been conducted. Fresh K.
alvarezii was soaked in 8% KOH at room temperaturefor 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50
days. The alkalinized K. alvarezii was then washed with fresh water untilpH
reached to 7 – 8, chopped to the size of 3 – 5 mm and then dried under sun
light. The SRCbeing produced was then evaluated for its quality. The result
showed that the quality of SRC fromfresh seaweed K. alvarezii was affected by
soaking time. The highest quality of SRC was obtainedby soaking K. alvarezii
with 8% KOH solution for 50 days. This was indicated by the ester
sulphatecontent of 6.74 %, water gel strength of 746 g/cm2, and moisture
content of 11.73 %.
Keywords: Cold alkali
processing, Kappaphycus alvarezii, KOH solution, ester sulphate, modified
technique
Author: Jamal Basmal, Diah
Ikasari
Journal Code: jpperikanangg140019
