Morphological Structure Characteristic and Quality of Semi Refined Carrageenan Processed by Different Drying Methods

Heat penetration during drying process of seaweed will rupture the seaweed cell wall. Different drying methods (drying with an oven, sun drying and solar tunnel drying) to produce Semi refined carrageenan (SRC) from Kappaphycus alvarezii have been studied. The aims of the study was to compare physicochemical characteristic of SRC on follow the morphological and functional group structure images and the quality of the product. The results indicated that different drying methods in the production of SRC made of Kappaphycus alvarezii did not give any difference to the morphological structure among the products. All samples showed an amorphous shape. The bands of the SRC product was at 2924,09 cm-1,1558 cm-1, 1072,42 cm-1 respectively which indicated that products contained aliphatic, carboxyl, and glycosidic linkage. Spectra at absorption band of 848,68 cm-1 is related to sulphation level of K. alvarezii which is kappa-carrageenan origin. The finest structure of SRC was resulted from solar tunnel drier which result in high gel strength and lowest sulphate content.