Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing - Gigartina chamissoi


1. CLASSIFICATION:
Division: Rhodophyta (red algae)
Class: Rhodophyceae
Subclass: Florideophycideae
Order: Gigartinales
Family: Gigartinaceae
Genus: Chondracanthus Kützing
Species: Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing
Common Names: “red seaweed”. Spanish: Peru “yuyo”, “cochayuyo”, “alga roja”, “gigartina”, “chicoria de mar”.


2. DESCRIPTION :
Polymorphic algae with membranous thallus 1 to 4.5 mm wide. It reaches from 6 to 45 cm in height. Its color is varied; frequently, dark green, violet green, iridescent, maroon, or black. Its shape and size varies as much as its color. According to Howe (1914), individuals of Gigartina lessonii (Bory) J. Agardh and Gigartina chauvinii (Bory) J. Agardh present a series of shapes morphologically intermediate to Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh. It seems that there existed an enormous difficulty to distinguish between Sphaerococcus lessonii Bory and Sphaerococcus chamissoi C. Agardh, even for Bory (1828). This difficulty still remains, so that some authorities prefer to consider Gigartina lessonii (Bory) J. Agardh and Gigartina chauvinii (Bory) J. Agardh within the species Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh (Acleto, 1986). Despite of that, it results easy to distinguish two morphologic groups; one which includes the narrow forms with a thallus of approximately 1mm wide, the lessonii group, and other which includes the broad forms, with a thallus of approximately 4.5 mm wide, the chauvinii group. In both groups, the thallus is generally constituted by several axes that emerge from a small basal disc.

At the base, the axes are cylindrical; then, they become subdichotomically divided, once or twice, and soon become primary axes, laminar, percurrent. Ramifications are currently distich or pinnate, occasionally subdichotomic and abundant; lateral branches originate successively and are of different size and length, according to their age. When fertile, spherical cystocarps develop notoriously and more or less agglomerated along the margin of the primary and secondary branches.Gigartina glomerataHowe, a Peruvian species closely related to Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh is an alga pretty similar to this, but small-sized, with a thallus 3 to 5 cm long, approximately.


3. ORIGIN, DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGY :
Origin: Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh is a species native to the Peruvian and Chilean coasts.

Distribution: Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh is a species endemic to Southeastern Pacific, nearby the coasts of Peru and Chile. In Peru, its presence has been reported in the departments of Ica (San Nicolás Bay, Laguna Grande, Mendieta Beach, Lagunilla, Independencia Bay, Pisco, Chincha Islands), Lima (Pucusana, San Bartolo, Chorrillos, Barranco, San Lorenzo Island, La Punta, Ancón Bay), Ancash (Chimbote Bay), La Libertad (Punta Negra, Puerto Chicama) and Piura (Paita). In Chile, it has been reported in La Herradura Bay. In Peru, this alga forms patches on the zone between high and low tide, in areas protected from the stream.


Gigartina glomerataHowe, a species closely related to Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing exGigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh is limited to the central part of the Peruvian coast. Gigartina paitensis Taylor, other related species, occurs on the Northern Peruvian littoral; it is, Paita, Talara and neighborhoods.


Ecology: Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh is an algal species which likes the temperate climates of Southern Pacific. Its industrialization seems to be environmentally friendly, because during farming and harvesting of this red seaweed there is hardly any waste produced. Cultivation methods are extremely simple; just managing the harvesting grounds by assessing biomass and determining maximum harvesting levels along the different beaches.
After the seaweeds are collected in the beach, they are cleaned from epiphytes, stones, mussels and crabs. Depending on the use they are going to have, they are put to dry on the sand or taken fresh to the processing plant to follow the macerating process with lime. Here, the only waste product produced is the excess of lime used in the process of discoloration, from reddish brown to light green. This water can then be directed to a settling pond to retrieve the lime sediments before been discharged to the main sewage. The seaweeds that cannot be adequately cleaned in order to be used for direct human consumption are dried and baled for industry, mainly of carrageenans. In Chile, a study has suggested two commercial harvests during spring, when the population is at its best biomass development and probably coincides with the highest quality of its carrageenans. After that time, the biomass could begin to deteriorate due to bleaching, epiphytism, and herbivory.


Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh presents an alternation in the chemical composition of its cell wall. In the gametophytic phase, this seaweed presents kappa-carrageenan (gelling), whereas in the tetrasporophytic phase, it presents lambda-carrageenan (emulsifier)


4. HISTORY :
The oldest register known about the use of algae comes from the time of Shen Nang, a Chinese emperor 2,700 years B. C. In that time, algae were used as food, medicine or fertilizer. First mention of the use of algae as medicine was written on the Pen Tsae Kan Mu, a 17^th century Chinese herbal, where certain algae are listed as a cure for goiter. During Roman times, Roman women used certain alga extracts as cosmetics. Throughout 18^th and 19^th century, algae were used in all Europe as fodder, fertilizer, and to obtain iodine and potassium.
According to María Rostworowski (1981), seaweeds were one of the main sea products collected and used by ancient Peruvian coastal inhabitants, 6,450 ± 140 years ago, as the analysis of the rests found there reveal. Fishermen of 16^th and 17^th centuries were also accustomed to collect them. She also mentions that seaweeds or ‘cocha yuyos’ constituted an important part of the food exchange between coast and highlands. Interestingly, the seasonal migratory movements of people from the highlands to the coast and the warm valleys are still in force, principally to be employed in farms as seasonal workers or in houses. At the end of these tasks, these seasonal workers carry many things bought with the money they earned back to their homeland. Groceries, farming tools, flashlights, and stereos are some of the most desired objects; although, more important is the food that serves as dietetic complement to the traditional food of their homelands. Among these dietetic complements are sea products such as seaweeds, traditionally known as ‘cochayuyos’. These products are negotiated mainly dehydrated.


In Southern departments, ‘cochayuyo’ is the name assigned to Porphyra columbina, a red seaweed which is more abundant in the south and central zone of Peru. Along Arequipa coastal zone, there are many populations of ‘cochayuyeros’, particularly between Tanaka and Ocoña. Most ‘cochayuyeros’ are migratory workers; few have become permanents. They alternate their few month gathering labors (from August to November) with fishery and farming.
In Northern Peruvian departments, however, the term ‘cochayuyo’ is indistinctly assigned to Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing exGigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh and Gigartina glomerata Howe; both are commercialized either fresh or desiccated, although the second one in shorter scale. This seaweeds are dealt over a wide area into the Northern Andean region, where they are preferred over the Southern ‘cochayuyo’, which is also available but in less quantity (Masuda, 1981). Hence, the area of influence extends from Pisco to Trujillo, and they are sold dehydrated in some Andean localities such as Huancayo and Huaraz. In Lima markets, the volume of commercialization in fresh is considerable and is offered together with mussels and fish.


Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh is an algal species endemic to temperate Southern Pacific coasts and the most important Peruvian seaweed with an industrial application. Since a long time ago considerable volumes of this seaweed have been being commercialized and demand is growing due to the quantity and quality of carrageenan it produces. There are many basic investigations about the biological (Rojas, 1976; Acleto, 1984) and biochemical aspects related to kappa- and lambda-carrageenans of this species (Garay et al., 1976, 1979; Ching et al., 1977).


Howe (1914) wrote about this seaweed, particularly about its taxonomic aspects. Hilde Juhl-Noodt presented a report to the Compañía Administradora del Guano in 1959. In that report, she shows the results of her investigation in the Peruvian coast with respect to systematic, ecological aspects, geographic distribution, and uses of several algae, Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh among them. She concludes that in Peru, the most noticeable use that can be assigned to algae is as fertilizer.


In the 21^th century, algae are industrially used to produce polysaccharides such as alginates, carrageenans, agar, etc., which have a broad use in human alimentation. Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh constitutes one of the most promissory carrageenophytes of the Peruvian sea flora. In other times, the important seaweeds where collected by hand from the tidal zones or simply selected from the material stranded after a strong succession of waves. Today, apart from these methods, there exist several harvesting and even culturing techniques.

·        To prepare chocolate milk shakes.

·        Iced desserts, salads, sauces, soups.

·        Cheese, meat, and fish industries.

·        Beer clarifier.

·        Fruit juices and other drinks.

·        As emulsifier in pharmaceutical industry. For example, in codfish liver oil emulsions, as aggregation agent for tablets,
capsules, elixirs and syrups.

·        In the production of facial creams, ointments, lotions, toothpaste, hair tonic, sun protection oils.

·        In cosmetic industry, as stabilizer and suspension and thickening agent.

·        In painting industry, as pigment stabilizer and thin particle forming agent.

Finally, because of its technical qualities it is also used by non alimentary industries that require thickeners and stabilizers. Hence, carrageenans are employed in fur and paper industries, as well as in textile industries for dying, printing and finishing of clothes.

Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh is, after Porphyra columbina, the most useful Peruvian seaweed for human alimentation. This seaweed is preferred in fresh, and its consumption is higher in the coastal regions. Its exploitation is informal in those places where nature offers it with generosity. Moreover, Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh is the most important raw material exploited in Peru for carrageenan extraction.

Until the 1930’s, commercial exploitation of carrageenan-producing seaweeds was directed to satisfy the local requirements for carrageenans, such as cooking, cough syrups, etc. After that time, carrageenan was produced in order to use it as chocolate milk stabilizer. It was a success, and the agar deficit provoked by World War II stimulated its application in other fields. Since then, carrageenans have been being used in alimentary products processing, in pharmacy, cosmetics, in paints and inks, and other products and processes.

There exists a series of species related to Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh that have been more studied and that can show us the potentialities of this Peruvian seaweed. Gigartina stellata, for example, is employed against cough and chest and stomach disorders. In Iceland, Gigartina papillata, known as “grapestone”, is employed to prepare puddings and has a high content of vitamin C. Chondracanthus teedi (Mertens ex Roth) Kutzing ex Gigartina teedii, “shikin-nori”, is a Japanese seaweed also found in Europe that is commonly dried and eaten in several ways. Other related species, Gigartina papillata , is among the species with the highest content of vitamin C; this seaweed is found in the Pacific Ocean. Gigartina mamillosa is European and also has a good content of vitamin C; its synonym is Gigartina stellata, and is a good source of carrageenans.

In Spain, Gigartina sp. is also harvested, as well as in Ireland. Gigartina stellata can be also collected in New England (coast). This seaweed has a biomass maximum among 0 and 3m beneath sea level.

In general, seaweeds are used in several remedies because of their high content of iodine. Sometimes they are employed as an infusion (as, for example, Fucus sp.) in cases of goiter. Another way to employ them is encapsulated or in ash; the latter one was medicinally known as ‘Aethiops vegetabilis’. This ash has been recommended as a remedy for Basedow’s disease. The great consumption of seaweed by the Japanese is reflected by the low incidence of goiter in the country. The average consumption of dry seaweed per day per person in Japan is about 10g (Kirby, 1953).

A phycocolloid has been successfully used in the treatment of oncologic patients, producing a good recuperation in 68% of 162 patients (Claudio and Stendardo, 1966). Seaweeds have also a satisfactory effect in patients with chronic bronchitis or emphysema (Cavi and Giuseppe, 1974).

Elsner, Broser and Bunger (1937) have shown that a carrageenan aqueous extract, even in great dilution, acts as blood anticoagulant.

In some Chondrus species, a genus related with Gigartina, a series of sterols have been found, all of which poses hypocholesterolemic activity. These sterols can also depress blood pressure in human atherosclerosis as well as low cholesterol levels in rabbits and rats. Monitoring of Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh for these properties is essential.

In New Zealand, breweries prefer to use Gigartina decipiens as beer clarifier, instead of other seaweeds.

In Korea, a species of Gigartina sp . is collected and cultivated, and mainly exported to Japan. In South America, Chile exports Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh. Peru exports the same species, but modestly.

Carrageenan is employed as sodium, potassium or calcium salts. Potassium carragenate, as is commercially prepared, is a mixture of kappa- and lambda- carrageenans soluble in hot water, although only kappa carrageenate gels. Sodium carrageenate is soluble in cold water and does not gel. Due to its gel properties, kappa-carrageenan is more effective as stabilizer than lambda-carrageenan. The different proportions of these two compounds present in extracts taken from several seaweed species is, hence, very important in order to determine its future use. For example, lambda-carrageenan is richer in Chondracanthus acicularis (Ruth) Fredericq ex Gigartina acicularis (Ruth) and Gigartina pistillata products than in Chondrus sp. ones.

All carrageenan gels are thermally reversible. Gel formation is based upon a double helix structure that looses at high temperatures. When cold, a double helix polymer network arises with the double helixes forming the binding points. The sulphate at carbon number 2 of the units bound through the so called “alpha (1,3)” link acts as a wedge and avoid the formation of a double helix. This does not occur with sulphate at carbon number 4 in the galactosid units linked in “alpha (1,3)”, as they project outward.

The sulphate in carbon number 6 of the “beta (1,4)”-linked galactosids forms a twisting in the chain that inhibits helix formation. If sulphate is retired, the chain is straightened and gel formation promoted. Kappa-carrageenan does not gel in the presence of Na⁺ but does in K⁺, Ca⁺ or NH₄. Potassium ions produce the strongest carrageenan gels. Carrageenans also gel satisfactorily in milk.

In general, when carrageenan is added to flour, starch or albumin, an increment in gel strength and viscosity is produced. When added to gums and alginates, viscosity is diminished, although when added to agar, gel strength diminishes.

Mixed with other substances, cohesive and brittle characteristics are solved. A very useful mixture consists of 50% carrageenan, 33 1/3% locust bean gum and 16 2/3% potassium salt, usually KCl. This mixture is used in canned food for cats and dogs, particularly in England.

Because normally seaweed extracts pass unaltered throughout the digestive tract, they do not contribute any caloric value to the foods. Swartz (1914) could only show 6% utilization in humans, although dogs can use 33% of the material.

Under normal conditions, the extracts will tolerate both high and low temperatures provided low humidity and pH more than 7. Once the compounds have been completely dissolved, the solution will tolerate strong agitation. An exception is the chocolate-milk system. Oxidant and reducing agents are destructive.

Generally, hydrocolloids are employed because of their physical properties such as gelling, viscous behavior, emulsion, suspension and foam stabilizer and crystal growing control. Viscosity considerably depends upon the preparation method. High temperature results particularly adverse and pH must be between 6 and 7.

Carrageenans find other uses in hand lotions, mineral emulsions, chocolate drinks, cream stabilizers, toothpaste, cough syrup, milk-based puddings, ice cream stabilizer, etc. Seaweed extracts plus potassium salt is used for ice cream syrups and also to agglutinate tablets in pharmacy. With other additives, carrageenan can also be used in baked food glaze, fruit pie filling thickener, jellies, preservatives, and snacks.

Carrageenan is also used in blancmanges and molds and is sold in natural product stores as dietetic food.

Carrageenan has largely replaced algin in order to suspend fine cocoa powder in milk. It also has been employed to feed weak calves (a cup of jelly in milk per meal) with great success and has improved the mantle hair in red setter dogs (Kirby, 1953).

Textile industry extensively uses carrageenan at 5% as stiffener and agglutinant. Carrageenan produces a soft finishing and a surface to which impressions can easily add. Leather manufacturers use it to soften leather. Carrageenan is also used to stiffen and provide a gloss printing to leather goods. Gelose is melted and brushed on to the leather, that is then polished with glass cylinders. Dry seaweeds are also intensively used for shoes polishing, because the mucilage they posses holds down and smooths out the tiny rough projections on the surface of the shoe leather. They can also be used to bind briquettes of vegetable charcoal powder.

Besides its use in toothpastes and hand lotions, carrageenan is also used in the production of shaving soaps and hair creams. There exists a product known as ‘decoctum chondri ’ which is the best pharmacy emulsifier known. This emulsifier is prepared from the purest carrageenan, which is commercialized under the name of ‘ carragenano electum albissimum’. Little amounts of benzoic acid or sodium benzoate are added as preservative.

Because of its mucus forming properties, carrageenan has been used in lung diseases and to improve bitter drug taste. Carrageenan has also been used in cases of digestive tract irritations and in diarrhea and dysentery. In France and Great Britain, carrageenan has been used to treat stomach ulcers due to its mucous properties (Bhakuni and Silva, 1974). When used against ulcers, the body has no necessity to gastrointestinally absorb carrageenan, so that carrageenan acts directly on the mucous surface (Anderson, 1969). Codfish liver oil emulsions have been prepared with carrageenans. Cotton-wood soaked in carrageenan decoction has been used as cataplasm.
Carrageenan can also be employed to clarify beer, coffee, honey, and wine, although carrageenan should never be added in excess, because it could remove the matter in solution. It is also used in little fishing boats as ‘antibiotic ice’, which is a mixture of an antibiotic, such as CTC (chlortetracycline) for example, and a carrageenan. The reason is that the antibiotic distributes better through ice in the presence of carrageenan.

Other recent use is as air freshener gel. The jelly paste is sometimes mixed with other gums and perfumes; in this way, the aroma is slowly released as the gel dries. Carrageenan has the main applications among all algal phycocolloids.

The use of pellets of Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing exGigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh to treat second washing of informal gold mining in order to eliminate mercury has also been tested. It has been shown that these pellets can absorb mercury.

Chemical Compounds :

·        carbohydrates (phycocolloids)

—  kapa-carrageenan

—  lambda-carrageenan

·        proteins

·        fats

·        mineral salts (iodine, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron)

·        vitamin C.

Ching et al. (1977) affirm that total polysaccharides in Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh represent 33.6% in masculine plants, 42% in feminine plants and 31.7% in tetrasporic plants. They also declare the presence of a higher percentage of the kappa-carrageenan fraction in feminine and masculine plants and, in the same way, a higher percentage of the lambda-carrageenan fraction in tetrasporic plants. They also claim that their results agree with those of other Gigartina and Iridaea species. The extracts of each phase where analyzed according to structural elucidation techniques recommended for studies like these.

Garay et al. (1979) analyzed carrageenan from Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh differentiated in its masculine, feminine, and tetrasporic morphologic phases in samples collected during a year in four areas nearby Paracas, Pisco province, Ica department. Carrageenan values determined oscillated between 34.8 and 73.5%. The gametophytic plants shown a higher percentage of polysaccharides insoluble in KCl 0.25M (kappa fraction), whereas the tetrasporic plants exhibited a higher percentage of polysaccharides soluble in KCl (lambda fraction).

Stancioff et al. (1969) examined the physical properties, chemical composition, and infrared spectrum of polysaccharides and polysaccharide fractions of many red seaweeds, Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh among them, and concluded that this species has kappa-carrageenan, whose gel property can be rated from moderate to strong. Lawson et al. (1973) and Penman and Rees (1973) analyzed sulphate galactans from several species, Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh among them, by request of Marine Colloids Inc., Rockland, Maine, United States, and confirmed the presence of kappa- and lambda carrageenans.

Garay et al. (1976) analyzed a hydro soluble extract from a heterogeneous mixture of Chondracanthus chamissoi (J. Agardh) Kützing ex Gigartina chamissoi (C. Ag.) J. Agardh and found that the polysaccharide present in it is similar to that one taken from Chondrus crispus and Chondrus canaliculatus ; the bands analyzed under infrared spectrum shown characteristics typical to carrageenan.

Kappa-carrageenan gels in presence of potassium, rubidium or cesium, whereas lambda-carrageenan remains soluble (Smith and Cook, 1953). Kappa-carrageenan presents a sulphate radical at carbon number 4 of the beta-galactose unit, besides of having 3,6 anhydrogalactose, while lambda carrageenan lacks a sulphate radical in that position. The latter one exhibits a high viscosity.

Carrageenans are a family of polymers or polysaccharides built from sulphate galactans obtained from certain red seaweeds of Gigartinaceae, Solieraceae, Hypneaceae, and Phyllophoraceae families, especially from Chondrus, Gigartina and Iridea, all of them within Gigartinaceae family. Its ester sulphate content is 18% or more and its glucosidic units are alternately “alpha (1,3) and “beta (1,4)” linked. There are several kinds: mu, nu, lambda, kappa, iota and theta. The word carrageenan comes from the name of a small Irish coastal town, Carrageen, where commercial exploitation of Chondrus crispus, “Irish moss” took place for the first time in the 19^th century.

Carrageenan backbone consists of D-galactopiranose units linked at “alpha (1,3)” and “beta (1,4) carbons, whose sulphate esterification varies in degree and location.

There exists much variation with respect to carrageenan substitution patterns and frequently extracts taken from different species and even from different phases of the same species have different structure, viscosity, and gelling, which gives them many applications.

Kappa-carrageenan is a linear polysaccharide built from alternate D-galactose-4-sulphate alpha (1,3) linked and 3,6 anhydrogalactose residues alpha (1,4) linked. Kappa carrageenan naturally occurs in algal cell wall as carrageenic acid alkaline salts (sulphuric acid radicals of free galactan, R-OSO₃ H), whereas lambda-carrageenan is intercellular, particularly in the cortex.

Lambda-carrageenan consists mainly of beta-D-galactose-2-sulphate alpha (1,3) carbon linked (near 70% contains sulphate) and D-galactose residues-2,6 disulphate beta (1,4) linked.

6. DOSE AND CONTRAINDICATIONS :

Dose : No data available.

Contraindications : Not established.

7. BIBLIOGRAFÍA :

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Acleto O., César (1981). Explotación de Algas Marinas en el Perú. Phycol. Lat. Amer. 1: 19-25.

Acleto O., César (1986). Algas Marinas del Perú de Importancia Económica. Museo de Historia Natural “Javier Prado”, Departamento de Botánica. Serie de Divulgación Nº 5. Lima, Perú.

BULBOA, C.R. & J.E. MACCHIAVELLO, 2001. The effects of light and temperature on different phases of the life cycle in the carrageenan producing alga Chondracanthus chamissoi (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales). Botanica Marina, 44: 371-374.

Chapman, V. J. y Chapman, D. J. (1980). Seaweeds and their uses. 3ª Edición. Chapman and Hall Ltd. Gran Bretaña.

Ching, P. O. A.; Fuentes, C. R.; Cirilo, M.; Castro, M. y Acleto, C. (1977) Estudio Preliminar del Sistema Carragenano de Gigartina chamissoi Considerando sus Fases Femenina, Masculina y tetraspórica de una Muestra Recolectada en Ancón, Lima. Rev. Soc. Quím. del Perú. 43 (4): 168-172.

Córdova, César, Olga Riofrío, Natalia Arakaki, Tania Peña y Claudio Magallanes. "EL NIÑO" effect on Chondracanthus chamissoi (C. Agardh) Kützing (ex Gigartina chamissoi) on Peruvian central coast. Laboratorio de Ficología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

Garay, P. Luz y Ching, O. A. P. (1979). Evaluación Aproximada de Carragenano en Gigartina chamissoi sexada por turbidimetría. Bol. Soc. Quím. del Perú. 45 (3).

Garay, P. Luz; Fuentes R., C y Ching P., O. A. (1976). Aislamiento y Observaciones estructurales del Contenido del Polisacárido de Gigartina chamissoi Recolectada en las Playas de Chancay. Bol. Soc.Quïm. del Perú. 43 (2): 57-66.

GONZALEZ, J. I. MENESES & J.A. VASQUEZ. 1997. Field studies in Chondracanthus chamissoi (C. Agardh) Kützing: seasonal and spatial variations in life-cycle phases. Biología Pesquera (Chile) 26: 3-12.

Howe, M. A. (1914). The Marine Algae of Peru. Mem. Torrey Bot. Club 15:1-185.

Juhl-Noodt, hilde (1959). Las Lagas Marinas de la Costa Peruana y las posibilidades de su Utilización. Bol. Cía. Admin. del Guano, 35 (5): 10-16. (6): 16-22. Lima.

Lawson, C. J.; Rees, D. A.; Stancioff, D. J. y Stanley, N. F. (1973) Carrageenans. Part VIII. Repeating Structure of Galactan Sulfates from Furcellaria fastigiata, gigartina canaliculata, gigartina chamissoi, Gigartina atropurpurea, Ahnfeltia durvillaei, Gymnogongrus furcellatus, Eucheuma isiforme, Eucheuma uncinatum, Agardhiella tenera, Pachymenia hymantophora and Glioipeltis cervicornis. J. Chem. Soc. London, Perkins Trans. I: 2177-2182.

Lobban, Christopher S. y Wynne, Michael J.; editores (1981). The Biology of seaweeds. Blackwell Scientific Publications. Gran Bretaña.

Masuda, Shozo (1981). Cochayuyo, Macha, Camarón e Higos Charqueados. En: Estudios Etnográficos del Perú Meridional. Univ. de Tokio: 173-192. Japón.

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