• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.58-63
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• 2015

The chemical and rheological properties of natural and enzymatically hydrolyzed porphyran isolated from Pyropia yezoensis were investigated. The enzymatic hydrolysate was prepared by hydrolysis of porphyran using ${\beta}$-agarase followed by fractionation based on molecular weight (>300 kDa (Fr-1), 100-300 kDa (Fr-2), 10-100 kDa (Fr-3) and 1-10 kDa (Fr-4) using an ultrafiltration membrane. Each hydrolysate fraction consisted mainly of galactose (42.7-57.5%), 3,6-anhydro galactose (6.5-15.1%) and ester sulfate (8.6-14.1%). The sulfate content of the enzymatically hydrolyzed fractions decreased with an increase in molecular weight, whereas the 3,6-anhydro galactose content increased significantly. The rheological behavior of porphyran and enzymatically hydrolyzed porphyran solutions demonstrated a pseudoplastic behavior, which agrees with the Herschel-Bulkley model. The effect of temperature on the viscosity of the porphyrans and hydolysate fractions were measured and modeled using the Arrhenius equation. The activation energy of the porphyrans and enzymatically hydrolyzed porphyran (Fr-1) increased from 12.30 to 20.29 kJ/mol and 9.06 to 23.84 kJ/mol, respectively with increasing concentrations from 3% to 7%. These data indicate that the extent of the apparent viscosity of porphyran and enzymatically hydrolyzed porphyran are influenced by both temperature and concentration.