XI, A, 6 



Wells: Substitute for Gelatin in Food 



269 



Table III. — Comparison of gulaman with various seaweeds used for like 



purposes. 



Water. 



Nitrogen in 

 dry sub- 

 stance. 



British algse:^ 



Chondru^ crispus, bleached 



Do 



Chondrus crisptis, unbleached 



Do 



Gigantina mamillosa 



Laminaria digitata (dulse tangle) . 



Rhodymania palmata 



Porphyra laciniata 



Sarcophyllis edulis 



Alaria escvXenta 



Japanese gulaman 



Philippine gulaman dagat 



Per cent. 



17.92 

 19.79 

 21.47 

 19.96 

 21.55 

 21.38 

 16.56 

 17.41 

 19.61 

 17.91 

 19.60 

 16.00 



Per cent. 



1.534 

 1.485 

 2.142 

 2.510 

 2.198 

 1.588 

 3.465 

 4.680 

 3.088 

 2.424 

 •0. 806 

 0.800 



"Thorpe's Dictionary of Applied Chemisti-y (1913). 



It is evi(Jent that a jelly ina(ie from gulaman dagat would be 

 of no appreciable value as a nutritive product. But it seems 

 possible that gulaman dagat could be used in place of gelatin in 

 food where a substance possessing only the physical qualities of 

 gelatin is required. In other words, it could act as a carrier 

 for flavors and fruit juices. 



The suitability of gulaman dagat for agar-agar as a substitute 

 for the Japanese gulaman has been worked out by Dr. H. Windsor 

 Wade, bacteriologist, Bureau of Science. Th6 physical charac- 

 teristics of the extract were briefly noted by comparing them with 

 those of ordinary agar-agar. 



Extracts were made by soaking in cold water, boiling for con- 

 siderable periods, and after rubbing through wire gauze filtering 

 off the soluble portion through cheesecloth. Soaking the dried 

 material, which is entirely filamentous, caused it to swell 

 to two or three times its original bulk, the effect being 

 apparently the same after two hours as after twenty-four hours. 

 Using a proportion of 4 per cent of dry weed and replacing the 

 water as evaporated, the extract obtained solidified on cooling 

 and could be cast in the form of cakes which, with care, might 

 be handled without breaking. 



In order to compare the surface strength of this jelly with 

 that of ordinary agar-agar of known concentration, a simple 

 apparatus was devised with which the sustaining power of the 

 uninjured surfaces of blocks of uniform size could be determined 



