Efficient Extraction of Agarose from Red Algae Using Ionic Liquids

We explored the possibility of using ionic liquids (ILs) as medium for efficient extraction of agarose via dissolution of red algae under varying conditions of heating or microwave irradiation. As compared to conventional methods, a very high extraction yield of good quality agarose (as high as 39 wt%) could be achieved depending upon the nature of used IL and applied experimental conditions. Purity of extracted agarose was confirmed from various spectral and analytical techniques, such as 1H and 13C NMR, FTIR, circular dichroism (CD), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The physicochemical properties, such as gelling or melting temperature, viscosity and gel strength of extracted agarose hydrogels have been measured and compared with the agarose obtained from similar source reported in the literature. ILs were recovered after the extraction of agarose and were reused for further extraction experiments. % Recycling and extraction ability of recycled ILs in different cycles have been measured. The developed extraction process of utilizing ILs as medium is easy, simple and highly efficient as compared to the conventional methods of agarose extraction from algae.