Title of Process/ Know-how/ Product/Design/Equipment
Process for the production of bacteriological grade agar from Gracilaria dura/Gelidiella acerosa with backward integration of farming
Application/Uses/Problem being addressed
Food & Beverage industries, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, biological applications as media for bacteria culture, etc. Process developed is devoid of any kind of effluent production and conventionally huge amount of effluent is produced during agar production.
Salient Technical Features including Competing Features/ Impact
Due to the rapid growth of the food & beverage industries and biotech Sector, demand for agar is likely to expand substantially. There is a need for a low-cost high-quality product. At CSIR-CSMCRI, a new process for the extraction of food and bacteriological grade agars from Indian agarophytes such as Gracilaria edulis G. dura, and Gelidiella acerosa which are abundant naturally in west and south east coasts of India and also being cultivated in the south east coast of India is developed and validated 3-4 kg dry seaweed level per batch in the pilot plant. The obtained agar samples with yield 15-20% (based on dried seaweed as obtained from the field) have shown high gel strength (700 to 2500 g cm-2, in 1.5% gel), low metal and sulphate contents and found to be suitable for bacterial growth
TRL Level & Scale of Development:
500 g agar per batch
Business scope & opportunity (in terms of scale, cost, market etc.):
India import large quantity of agar that involves high foreign exchange exchequer. For the first time, a zero-liquid discharge “ZLD” process is developed for the production of bacteriological grade agar from cultivated seaweed biomass such as Gracilaria dura, Gelidiella acerosa, etc.
Environmental Considerations:
Environmentally safe and benign as it is a zero liquid discharge process.
Status of Licensing:
Not yet licensedStatus of Commercialization:
Not yet commercializedMajor Raw Materials Needed
Cultivated seaweed biomass
Major Plant Equipment and Machinery Required
Boiler, Open Jacketed Vessel, Closed Jacketed Vessel, filtration unit/centrifuge, Cold room are the major requirement for agar plant
Techno-Economics
Process is suitable to produce high quality agar product in eco-friendly manner, and production cost about ₹700-800 per/kg agar.*[Similar quality commercial products are sold @ ₹5000 to 25000/- per kg]
Technology Package
Demonstration of cultivation methodology of Gracilaria dura and training with at least two Bamboo rafts; demonstration of cultivation of Gelidiella acerosa with two cement blocks and training. Demonstration of production of agar @ 1.5 kg dry seaweed/batch; Technology transfer document (TTD) having information on product specification, competition, market, details of equipment required for pilot level installation etc. along with demonstration certificate will be provided; Technical support till 6 months after know-how licensing; Appropriate discount in license fee for small scale industries/startup will be provided; Know-how licensing fee details will be provided on request.
