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Concise review of industrially important red seaweed Gracilaria dura (C. Agardh) J. Agardh

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Abstract

Gracilaria is a genus of Rhodophyta with about 228 taxonomically accepted species, many of which are important as sources of agar. Gracilaria dura which has major distribution in Mediterranean and Arabian Sea has fast emergingd as a preferred species for commercial aquaculture, especially in Indian waters. The direct extraction of high-value agar and agarose (gel strength > 1900 g cm−2 of 1% gel) can be achieved via a simplified surfactant induced down-stream process by coagulating the alkali-treated agar extract. The potential feed-stock applications of farmed biomass to sequentially obtain different bio-products of economic interest via bio-refinery mode has attracted industry attention. The isomorphic, triphasic life history also offers an opportunity for selecting elite germplasm for industrial utilisation, including farming. The floating bamboo raft and tube net method of farming has been perfected for undertaking commercial operations in India. The technology of farming and processing has also attracted the attention of policy makers, thus the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, has bestowed the “Biotech Product, Process and Development and Commercialization” award in 2020. This review provides the state of the art knowledge in the area of farming and processing, besides basic information on taxonomy, distribution, ecology and life history. The efforts to domesticate this species in other parts of world might pave ways of economic development in coastal rural settings due to its ability to produce high value agar and agarose, which have applications in the pharma, medical and biotechnology sectors.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

KS gratefully acknowledges the University Grant Commission (UGC). This work reported in this review has been largely carried by grant received from Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, Government of India. Further, generous support from National Fisheries Development Board Hyderabad is gratefully acknowledged which supported farming of this species in India. The images of tube net farming have been shared by Dr. Monic Kavale. We are grateful to Director, CSIR-CSMCRI for encouragement.

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  1. Applied Phycology and Biotechnology Division, CSIR- Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Gijubhai Badheka Road, Bhavnagar, 364002, India

    Vaibhav A. Mantri, Kanchan Sambhwani & Mudassar Anisoddin Kazi

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India

    Vaibhav A. Mantri & V. Veeragurunthan

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  1. Vaibhav A. Mantri
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Mantri, V.A., Veeragurunthan, V., Sambhwani, K. et al. Concise review of industrially important red seaweed Gracilaria dura (C. Agardh) J. Agardh. J Appl Phycol 34, 1825–1841 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-022-02755-6

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