Study of the use of Gracilaria sp from the Karawang Area and Ulva lactuca as raw material making of Nori

Abstract

Nori is processed seaweed in the form of dried sheets, generally consumed by Japanese and Korean people. The seaweed used as raw material is Porphyra sp which generally grows in Japan and Korea, so Indonesia has to import more and more nori. Porphyra seaweed is the raw material for making imported nori. Porphyra is not found in Indonesia because the seaweed lives in a subtropical climate. Therefore, it is necessary to look for alternative raw materials besides Porphyra. Indonesian waters have various types of seaweed, one of which is Ulva lactuca seaweed. Ulva Lactuca is one of the red algae plants and belongs to the class Chlorophyceae, shaped like sheet talus like lettuce. Ulva Lactuca has similar characteristics to Porphyra seaweed in terms of texture and color besides that Ulva Lactuca is rich in acrylic acid which functions as an antibiotic, is a source of protein, folic acid, and several types of minerals such as: Ca, K, Mg, Na, Cu, Fe, Zn. Apart from the type of Ulva Lactuca, there are also types of Gracilaria verrucosa often found in Karawang waters. Gracilaria produced in these waters has quite high gel strength and viscosity. The advantages of these properties are expected to improve the quality of the nori products produced. For this reason, in this applied research a study was conducted to make nori with a combination of Gracilaria sp and Ulva sp. Ulva sp (sea lettuce) used is Ulva Lactuca in Pangandaran waters. The manufacturing process begins with washing the seaweed and soaking the seaweed for 6 hours. Ulva Lactuca soaked in NaCl solution with a weight ratio of seaweed: water: salt = 2: 60: 5, soaking seaweed Gracilaria sp. in a solution of rice vinegar with a weight ratio of seaweed: water: rice vinegar = 2: 60: 1. Experiments were carried out in 4 weight ratios of Gracilaria sp. that is different, namely: sample 1 = 100% Ulva lactuca, sample 2 = 97.15% Ulva lactuca: 2.85% Gracilaria sp., Sample 3 = 98% Ulva lactuca: 2% Gracilaria sp., and sample 4 = 99% Ulva lactuca: 1% Gracilaria sp.