Carrageenan each plant weighs approximately 1 kg. The "E. cottonii" variety has been reclassified as "Kappaphycus cottonii" by Maxwell Doty (1988), thereby introducing the genus "Kappaphycus", on the basis of the phycocolloids produced (namely kappa carrageenan). After harvest, the seaweed is dried, baled, and sent to the carrageenan manufacturer. There the seaweed is ground, sifted to remove impurities such as sand, and washed thoroughly. After treatment with hot alkali solution (e.g., 5–8% potassium hydroxide), the cellulose is removed from the carrageenan by centrifugation and filtration. The resulting carrageenan solution is then concentrated by evaporation. It is dried and ground to specification.
Tyrian purple the purple". Some speculate that the dye extracted from the "Bolinus brandaris" is known as () in Biblical Hebrew. Another dye extracted from a related sea snail, "Hexaplex trunculus", produced a blue colour which could be the one known as (), used in garments worn for ritual purposes. The dye substance is a mucous secretion from the hypobranchial gland of one of several species of medium-sized predatory sea snails that are found in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. These are the marine gastropods "Bolinus brandaris" the spiny dyemurex, (originally known as "Murex brandaris" Linnaeus, 1758), the banded dye-murex "Hexaplex trunculus", the