Selective extraction of hydrocolloid fractions from sea plants

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR TREATING SOLID UNDISSOLVED CARRAGEENANCONTAINING MATERIAL COMPRISING LAMBDA AND KAPPAA COMPONENTS FOR THE SELECTIVE EXTRACTION OF SAID COMPONENTS THEREFROM, WHICH COMPISES SOAKING SAID CARRAGEENAN-CONTAINING MATERIAL IN A WATER SOLUTION OF A WATER-SOLUBLE COMPOUND SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF THE WATERSOLUBLE SALTS AND HYDROXIDES OF CATIONS AMMONIUM, POTASSIUM, RUBIDIUM, CESIUM, CALCIUM, BARIUM, STRONTIUM AND MAGNESIUM AT A TEMPRATURE BETWEEN THE APPROXIMATE LIMITS OF 5* AND 90*C., THE CATION CONCENTRATION AT SUCH TEMPERATURE BEING WITHIN THE RANGE EFFECTIVELY EQUIVALENT TO POTASSIUM AS DEFINED IN THE RELATIONSHIP 0>LOG C>0.03T-2.77, WHEREIN C IS THE POTASSIUM ION CONCENTRATION IN MOLES PER LITER AND T IS THE TEMPERATURE OF THE SOLUTION IN DEGREES CENTIGRADE AND THE CONCENTRATION FOR ANY HYDROXYL IONS IN SAID SOLUTION BEING NOT MORE THAN ABOUT 0.2 MOLE PER LITER, THE LAMBDA COMPONENT OF SAID CARRAGEENAN-CONTAINING MATERIAL UNDER SAID COMBINED CONBINED CONDITIONS OF CATION CONCENTRATION AND TEMPERATURE BEING RENDERED SUBSTANTIALLY MORE SOLUBLE THAN THE KAPPA COMPONENT SO AS TO GO INTO SOLUTION IN SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT WHILE THE KAPPA COMPONENT IS SELECTIVELY PREVENTED FROM GOING INTO SOLUTION, AND SEPARATING THE SOLUTION CONTAINING THE DISSOLVED LAMBDA COMPONENT FROM THE UNDISSOLVED SOLID RESIDUE CONTAINING THE UNDISSOLVED KAPPA COMPONENT.