Chemical Quality and Production of Agars Extracted from Gracilaria tikvahiae Grown in Different Nitrogen Enrichment Conditions

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Abstract
Increasing concentrations of N fertilizer led to increased growth and internal N content of G. tikvahiae and decreased yields of agar. The thallus N content was highly correlated with percent protein and protein:carbohydrate ratios, and percent agar was highly correlated with percent carbohydrate. Agars extracted from thalli grown under N enriched conditions had higher melting temperatures and greater gel strengths than did agars extracted from less enriched thalli. The increased gel strengths found in these experiments may be due to the greater molecular size of the agar polymers, as indicated by the increased melting temperatures associated with greater gel strengths.