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Question

Agar-agar, a mucilaginous substance occurs in the cell walls of

A
Laminaria and Ascophyllum
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B
Nostoc and Anabaena
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C
Fucus and Rhodymenia
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D
Gelidium and Gracilaria
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Solution

The correct option is C Gelidium and Gracilaria
Agar is used for everything from food preparation, cosmetics, research labs, fertilizers and animal feed additives.
The best quality agar is extracted from red algae species Gelidium and is harvested around the world. Agars of lesser quality is extracted from the Gracilaria and Hypnea species.
Gelidium and Gracilaria (also known as agar-agar) account for most of the raw material used for the extraction of agar. Gelidium is a higher quality agar.
Gracilaria is one of the most ancient stabilizers used in food.
Gelidium grows best where there is rapid water movement. Depending on the species, it can be found in water from two meters to 20 meters in depth. Gelidium prefers rocky areas with steep slopes and is rarely found on muddy or sandy bottoms. It prefers partial shade and maybe bleached by full intensity light in tropical latitudes. It usually grows best at 15 to 20oC, but it can tolerate higher temperatures. It can also survive in low nutrient conditions, and some species adapt to low or high salinity.
Gracilaria species were once considered unsuitable for agar production because the quality of the agar was poor (gel strength too low).

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