Gracilaria is a genus of red algae (Rhodophyta) notable for its economic importance as an agarophyte, as well as its use as a food for humans and various species of shellfish. Various species in the genus are cultivated among Asia, South America, Africa and Oceania.
Gracilaria are found in warm waters throughout the world, though they also occur seasonally in temperate waters. It can not tolerate temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F).[clarification needed] Gracilaria are found in all oceans except the Arctic. Their center of diversity is the Western Pacific, where they have been traditionally cultivated as a source of agar.[2][3]
Gracilaria is used as a food in Filipino, Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean and Sri Lankan cuisines.[4][5] In Japanese cuisine, it is called ogonori or ogo. In the Philippines, it is called gulaman and used to make a gelatin substitute.[6] In Jamaica, it is known as Irish moss.[7] In Korea, it is known as kkosiraegi.
Gracilaria oligosaccharides with degree of polymerization 6 prepared by agarase digestion from agar-bearing Gracilaria sp. polysaccharides have been shown to be an effective prophylactic agent during in vitro and in vivo experiments against Japanese encephalitis viral infection. The sulfated oligosaccharides from Gracilaria sp. seem to be promising candidates for further development as antiviral agents.[8]
In the Philippines, Gracilaria have been harvested and used as food for centuries, eaten both fresh or sun-dried and turned into jellies. The earliest historical attestation is from the Vocabulario de la lengua tagala (1754) by the Jesuit priests Juan de Noceda and Pedro de Sanlucar, where golaman or gulaman was defined as "una yerva, de que se haze conserva a modo de Halea, naze en la mar" ("an herb, from which a jam-like preserve is made, grows in the sea"), with an additional entry for guinolaman to refer to food made with the jelly.[9][10]
In Japan, Gracilaria has been used to produce funori (府海苔), an agar-based glue, since the 17th century.[11]