Gelidium amansii

Gelidium amansii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Archaeplastida
Phylum: Rhodophyta
Class: Florideophyceae
Order: Gelidiales
Family: Gelidiaceae
Genus: Gelidium
Species: G. amansii
Binomial name
Gelidium amansii
(J.V.Lamour.)

Gelidium amansii is an economically important species of red algae commonly found and harvested in the shallow coast (3 to 10 meters or 10 to 33 feet of depth below the water) of many east Asian countries including North and South Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, and northeast Taiwan.[1] G. amansii is an important food source in East Asian countries and has been shown to have medicinal effects on dieting.[2] This algae is used to make agar, whose components are the polysaccharide agarose and agaropectin, from the large amount of algin which is located in the algae's cell wall, as well it is sometimes served as part of a salad, puddings, jams, and other culinary dishes in producing regions.[3] Agar is a gelatinous substance that is commercially used as an incubation matrix for microbials and other products that require an ecologically friendly gelatinous matrix. Gelidium amansii can be purple, red, to yellowish red because it contains the class of pigments known as anthocyanins instead of chlorophyll, which is commonly used by photosynthesizing organisms. Its branching body is cartilaginous and can grow up to a height of 8 to 30 centimeters or 3 to 12 inches. G. amansii may have 4 to 5 opposite compound lobed pinnate leaves on each branch. G. amansii is uniaxial with an apical cell and whorled cells coming from the axial towards the exterior of the algae. The pith is compacted with apical cells and the epidermis is formed by rounded whorled cells. G. amansii is being studied as a cheap biofuel.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Chen; Tu; Wu (1 February 2004). "Growth-inhibitory effects of the red alga Gelidium amansii on cultured cells". Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin. 27 (2): 180–184. doi:10.1248/bpb.27.180.
  2. ↑ M.D. Guiry (29 December 1997). "Gelidium amansii (J.V.Lamouroux) J.V.Lamouroux". AlgaeBase. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  3. ↑ Kang; Kang; Kim; Lima; Ko; Kim; Kim; Jeung; Choi; Jeon (18 February 2016). "Popular edible seaweed, Gelidium amansii prevents against diet-induced obesity". Food and Chemical Toxicology. 90: 181–187. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2016.02.014.
  4. ↑ Wi; Kim; Mahadevan; Yang; Bae (3 August 2009). "The potential value of the seaweed Ceylong moss (Gelidium amansii) as an alternative bioenergy resource.". Bioresource Technology. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2009.07.017.
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