# Different _Chondrus crispus_ Aquaculture Methods and Carrageenanan Extraction
###### Abstract
The utility of Irish moss was well established in Europe at the beginning of the 19 th century. [PERSON], a British botanist, recorded observations about certain red seaweeds and their composition. He noted that \"_Fucus crispus_\" was an extremely variable plant in terms of its physical state, as it would fix into a strong gelatinous substance when cooked and cooled down. It would then return to a liquid state when exposed to heat again. [PERSON] also claimed that the algae were already consumed by both Scottish and Irish people [26]. [PERSON]'s _F. crispus_ is now recognized as _Chondrus crispus_, or Irish moss. This red alga, however, is not a moss and is not exclusive to Ireland. It has been used for centuries by the Irish and other Europeans under a wide variety of common names [27]. The possibility of the further commercial use of Irish moss was recognized in the mid-19 th century [28]. Certain aspects of the history of _C. crispus_ and its uses have been analyzed [29], and the species has become a model organism for molecular and genetic research in red algae [14]. Interest in Irish moss in North America seems to have grown with the various waves of Irish immigrants to the Boston area in the 18 th and early 19 th centuries. The need for this algae justified the considerable cost of importing it from Ireland [20; 30]. By 1835, there was already abundant growth of the algae on the coast of Massachusetts, and its first American production began on that same coast between 1845 and 1848. A hot water extract of the seaweed was typically used as a vegetable gelatin in food preparations such as blancmange, and for its noticeable medicinal and sanitary benefits [31]. Although animal-based gelatin had been known since the end of the Middle Ages, it was mainly used by aristocrats for special occasions, as its production was slow and laborious. The introduction of granulated gelatin by [PERSON] in 1894 drastically affected the price received for dried Irish moss, and commercial harvesting of seaweed became relatively uneconomical in the early decades of the 20 th century. Cheap sources of hydrocolloid mucilage from seaweed were readily obtained in Asia at that time [32]. The reduced demand for Irish moss persisted until World War II when Japanese agar became unavailable in 1941. Due to the critical importance of phycooloids in bacteriology and as food additives, alternative sources were urgently sought both in Europe and North America. The British government initiated a major study on seaweeds that could produce commercial quantities of a mucilage with the required physical and chemical properties [33]. The extract (carrageenan) from Irish moss (_C. crispus_), along with false Irish moss, _Mastocarpus stellatus_ (Stackhouse), formerly known as _Gigartina stellata_ or _G. mammilosa_, was deemed a satisfactory substitute for agar and consequently marketed as \"British agar\" [14; 18; 20; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39]. Still, due to World War II, seaweed research saw significant developments in Canada, Scotland, and Norway [40]. Japan had entered the war, preventing the supply of phycocolloids from Asia for food and biotechnological uses [32]. Although Irish moss was bleached and dried for exportation from the mid-1920s in Nova Scotia, significant exports of Irish moss from Canada began in 1940 and grew rapidly, increasing the limited supply available from New England [20; 37; 38; 39; 41; 42; 43]. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, the harvest of Irish moss dramatically increased to meet the growing industrial demand for carrageenan [41]. It was becoming evident that the harvest of Irish moss would be unsustainable in the long run if the demand for carrageenan continued to increase. Likewise, the global supply of carrageenanophytes was considered insufficient to support the expanding industry [44].