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Macroalgae (seaweeds): industrial resources and their utilization

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Biosalinity in Action: Bioproduction with Saline Water

Part of the book series: Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences ((DPSS,volume 17))

Summary

Seaweeds are distributed widely in all oceans of the world, but exploited in limited areas. These plants have been used for food and as soil conditioners for centuries, with industrial application of extractives a relatively recent innovation generally limited to the more developed areas of the world. There are relatively few species of industrial importance, and these occur in both the red (Rhodophyta)and brown (Phaeophyta) algal divisions.

The principal value of phycocolloids is in their gelling and stabilizing properties. Species of red algae may elaborate agar or carrageenan. Both are complex polysaccharides with innumerable structural possibilities, hence physical properties, and phycocolloids from various species can have specific applications. Carrareenans are employed mostly in the food industry, and agars in both the food and pharmaceutical sectors of the economy. Alginates, another family of complex polysaccharides, are obtained from various species of brown algae and are the third major algal gum of commerce. Alginates are used in the food and pharmaceutical industries and have other industrial applications.

Issued as NRCC No. 23603.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Council of Canada, 1411 Oxford Street, Halifax, N.S, Canada, B3H 3Z1

    J. McLachlan

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  1. J. McLachlan
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Institutes for Applied Research, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 1025, Beer-Sheva, 84110, Israel

    Dov Pasternak

  2. Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 47405, USA

    Anthony San Pietro

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© 1985 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht

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McLachlan, J. (1985). Macroalgae (seaweeds): industrial resources and their utilization. In: Pasternak, D., San Pietro, A. (eds) Biosalinity in Action: Bioproduction with Saline Water. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 17. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5111-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5111-2_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8759-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-5111-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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