Measurement of macroalgae total carbohydrate content found in Lendang Luar coast, Lombok, Indonesia for potential sources of bioethanol

Abstract

Bioethanol is a renewable alternative energy through the process of fermenting sugar from carbohydrate sources by adding microorganisms such as yeast or bacteria. Macroalgae or known as seaweed is one of the producers in the marine environment which has a high carbohydrate content so that it can be used as raw material for bioethanol. Macroalgae contains specific carbohydrates including laminarin, mannitol, alginate, agar and polysaccharides. The high carbohydrate content indicates the ethanol content produced. The aim of the study was to initial screen total carbohydrates in red algae (G. latifolium and G rugosa) and brown algae (M rosea, S. crassifolium, S. cristaefolium, S. polycystum, P.australis and T. muray ana). Carbohydrate total analysis was performed by colorimetric assay using the BioVision kit. The overall carbohydrate content found in macroalgae samples in this study was 28.23 fig (DW)1. The highest carbohydrate content was obtained by G. latifolium (37.50 fig (DW)1), followed by G rugosa (34.27 fig (DW)1) and S. cristaefolium (33.33 fig (DW)1). Current results show that macroalgae exhibits sufficient amounts of carbohydrate which could potentially be further developed as source for biotehanol.