Agar and Agarose from Sea Weeds (Fish by-products)

Sea weeds are important organic renewable resources of the sea and are used for a variety of purposes like preparation of agar, agarose, carrageenin etc. CIFT had developed a process for producing good quality agar with high gel strength by alkali treatment instead of the conventional acid treatment method. Dried sea weeds are soaked in water, agitated to remove foreign particles, drained, treated with sodium carbonate solution and heated. It is then washed repeatedly to free it of the alkali and the agar extracted by boiling with dilute hydrochloric acid. The extracted gel is frozen and then thawed and the thaw water drained off. The gel obtained is bleached, washed with water, drained and dried. It is then powdered and stored in plastic bags.