Seaweeds and their importance

Seaweeds is the name implies to cover the macroscopic plants of the sea except the flowering plants. Most of the seaweeds are attached to rocks and also grow on other plants as epiphytes. Along the coast line of India, seaweeds are abundant where rocky or coral formations occur. This sort of substratum is found in the States of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat and in the vicinity of Bombay, Ratnagiri, Goa, Karwar, Vizhinjam, Varkala, Visakhapatnam and in the Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobar Islands. The seaweeds are classified into three important groups namely green, brown and red. Seaweeds contain different vitamins, minerals, trace-elements and proteins. Seaweeds are also a rich source of iodine

Status of seaweed culture in India

In India, Gulf of Mannar, Gulf of Kuteh, Palk Bay, Lakshadweep and Bay islands are the important areas having considerable natural resources along the 6 100 km long coast line of the country. About 680 species of seaweeds belonging to the groups Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta, Rhodophyta and Cyanophyta occur naturally in varying degrees of abundance in shallow bays, lagoons and coastal areas which offer suitable substrata for their growth and propagation. Apart from their utility as a source of food, food derivatives, vitamins, proteins, etc., seaweeds provide the raw material for many agar and algin-based industries. The exploitation of carrageenophytes such as species of Hypnea, Acanthophora, Laurencia, etc. has yet to make a beginning in the country as these are available in sizeable quantities. In view of the constant demand for the seaweeds, research programmes on seaweed resources and their culture were taken up by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, and Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute at Mandapam at their Regional and Field Centre, respectively, and various other research organizations belonging to the State Fisheries Departments/Universities. As regards sea-weed farming, experiments were mainly carried out on species of Ulva, Gelidiella acerosa, Gracilaria edulis, Gracilaria corticata, Gelidiopsis variabilis, Gelidium pusillum, Hypnea musiformis, Acanthophora spicifera, Hormophysa triquetra, Cystoseira sp. and species of Sargassum

Seaweed culture and its prospects in India

For centuries, seaweeds of various kinds have been put to several uses in the countries of south and south-east Asia (Chapman and Chapman, 1980). The utilisation of these seaweeds has come up step by step starting with using them as food, later as raw material for industrial, medicinal, pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes. The extended coastline of India of about 7500 kIn long with wide shelf area of 0.451 million sq. kIn. provide the most suitable environment for seaweed growth. The extensive shallow bays, coral reefs and lagoons, characterised by slow to moderately strong currents coupled with sandy and coralline bottoms make the Indian coastal belts, the ideal habitat for many economic seaweeds

Status of seaweed industry in India

Forty percent of the population in India is estimated to be vegetarian. Seaweeds with its high nutritive value constitute a potential resource of valuable supplementary food. India has a coastline of 5698 km. Rocky and coral formations are found in Tamil Nadu, Grujarat states, and in the vicinities of Bombay, Karawar, Batnagiri, Goa, Vizhinjam, Varkala, Vishakapatnam, and in few other places like Chilka and Pulicat lakes, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Grujarat states are the important seaweed growing regions of the country

Seaweed and their importance

Agar agar and algin serve as stabilizers, emulsifiers, thickeners, and gelling agents

Introduction and growth of Gracilaria edulis, in Minicoy lagoon (Lakshadweep)

Agarophyte, Gracilaria edulis was not occuring in Minicoy lagoon .With a view to bringing in this commercially important resource into the vast lagoon of Minicoy Island, seed material of G. edulis was introduced from Kavaratti Island (Lakshadweep. 400 Km north of Minicoy) and Gulf of Mannar (Mandapam) in the year March 1990

Marine Algal Flora From Selected Centres Along The Madras Coast

A survey was made on the marine algae occurring at Pulicat, Kovalam, Muthukadu andMahabalipuram along the Madras coast. A total of 22 species were collected of which six species belonged to Chlorophyta, three to Phaeophyta, 10 to Rhodophyta and three to Cyanophyta. Out of the 22 species, 16 are recorded for the first time along the Madras coas

Coastal Aquaculture in India-Review and Future Prospects

Aquaculture is being practised by humanity since very early times. It has acquired importance during the last three centuries with progressive increase in the demand for fish and shellfish. Aquaculture both in inland and coastal waters has become a very important food production activity during the last three decades due to the limitations of capture fisheries, especially the latter reaching maximum sustainable limits in the case of a number of resources and the large rise in cost of fishing effort

Gibberellic acid and 2,4-D as growth regulators in laboratory culture of seaweeds

The growth regulatory effects of gibberellic acid (GA) and 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid) on a green alga, Ulva fasciata and two species of red algae, Gracilaria corlicata and Hypnea valentiae were studied. For a culture period of 30 days, the thallus segments showed varying growth rates on pretreatment with 6 to 20 mg/1 of the above growth substances. These compounds stimulated growth and increased wet weight o f the algae. At higher concentrations (16-20mg/l) 2,4-D was growth inhibitory, whereas, GA showed significantly higher growth at 16-20mg/l concentrations. It is concluded with the present study that plant hormones like GA and 2,4-D could be used for enhancement o f algal production in culture practices at different concentrations

Seaweed recipes and other practical uses of Seaweeds

Seaweeds (a plant group of the sea) in botanical terms "Algae" form an important food item in many countries of the East as well as West. In China, marine algae bears the name sea-vegetable and it is not uncommon for coastal inhabitants of Japan, Malaya, China and Phillippines to be seen on the seashore during low tide collecting these sea-vegetables. Korea and Japan are the two ceuntries where algae are farmed but only in Japan extensive seaweed cultivation is done