  The effect of the density dependence of the nucleonic equation of state and
the hyperon meson couplings on the star properties, including strangeness
content, mass and radius, are studied within a relativistic mean field
formalism. It is shown that there is still lacking information on the nucleonic
equation of state at supra-saturation densities and on the hyperon interactions
in nuclear matter that will allow a clear answer to the question whether the
mass of the pulsar J1614-2230 could rule out exotic degrees of freedom from the
interior of compact stars. We show that some star properties are affected in a
similar way by the density dependence of the symmetry energy and the hyperon
content of the star. To disentangle these two effects it is essential to have a
good knowledge of the equation of state at supra-saturation densities. A linear
correlation between the radius and the strangeness content of a star with a
fixed mass is obtained.
