investigation of the carrageenans extracted from Solieria filiformis and Agardhiella subulata from Mar Piccolo, Taranto

Dried samples of the red algae Solieria filiformis and Agardhiella subulata from Mar Piccolo, Taranto, were extracted by stirring in water at 25 (Cold), 85 (Hot) and 120 (pressure) °C. For each species, six successive cold, three hot and two pressure extractions were performed and analyzed separately. Water-soluble polysaccharides were isolated after treatment with amylase, alcohol precipitation, dialysis and freeze drying. The total, starch-free yields were 27 and 24% of the dry weight for S. filiformis (SF) and A. subulata (AS), respectively. FTIR and NMR spectroscopic analysis showed that the different cold and hot water extracts had a similar structural backbone, which can be characteristic of gelling type carrageenans with a dominant iota repeating structure (DA2S-G4S). However, some irregularities were detected by NMR, which may be attributed to 6-sulphated 4-linked precursor units. The occurrence of such and other irregularities was more frequent in the SF samples, giving a possible explanation for the enhanced extractability in cold water of carrageenan polymers from this species.