Introductory Study Towards the Extraction of Chlorophyll Pigment from Sargassum

Abstract

The research aims to draft a protocol for extracting chlorophyll from Sargassum, a brown seaweed purchased in Garut, West Java, Indonesia. Three solvents were examined; acetone, ethanol and dematerialized water. The ?rst two give the same yield and extract the same pigments. The concentrations are approximated using the absorbency measured with a spectrophotometer. The spectra show that the pigment being extracted is pheophytin, the derivative of chlorophyll. With decrease in sample size the yield would increase proportionally. Acetone was chosen as optimal solvent after a ?rst experiment. T-test was performed on the results and showed a higher yield for acetone as for ethanol. The high concentration of salt in the seaweed does not interfere with the measured concentrations, does washing the seaweed before extraction improve the yield. There are still pigments left in the sample after extraction as the seaweed still has color, even after repetitive extractions on the same sample. To make sure the samples could be stored before analysis without any change in the results the degradation of the Chl was studied. After three days the calculated yield was increased from 32,69 mg/100 g to 47,06 mg/100 g what implies the degradation can be reversible. The spectra on the other hand looked more like chlorophyllide then pheophytin what stated an increase in degradation.