Macroalgae—Seaweeds

Marine macroscopic and microscopic algae, which are better known as seaweeds and algae, respectively, are widely used as a major diet component in East Asia and have been used for therapeutic applications 

Seaweeds have been harvested and consumed for centuries by many countries (Miyashita and Hosokawa 2008). They have been also been studied for a long time for production of industrially important polysac- 

The most important seaweed derived phenolic phytochemicals are phlorotannin polyphenols, which are uniquely found only in brown seaweeds [96], Phlorotannins are polymers which contain phloroglucinol as their monomeric component, and they are termed phlorotaimins since phloroglucinol is a common monomer unit [96]. As most tannins, similarly phlorotannins have the potential for cardiovascular disease management through an increase of HDL cholesterol and prevention of atherosclerosis [136-140], However, many recent reports have indicated more unique potential health benefits of phlorotaimins for a wide variety of diseases. A study by Li et al. [141] revealed that E. cava contains plenty of phlorotannin derivatives with interesting bioactivities. Chemical composition and antioxidant activity studies on E. cava showed that the major phlorotannins present are phloroglucinol, eckol. 

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Phototrophic organisms take up and biotransform TNT. It is well established that aquatic vascular plants remove TNT from terrestrial waters. Recent studies show that nonvascular marine macroalgae (seaweeds) remove TNT from seawater. All photo-trophic organisms initially reduce the nitro groups on TNT to form 2-ADNT and 4-ADNT. Some of the ADNTs are secreted back to the surrounding liquid milieu. The biochemical fate of the intracellular ADNTs is unknown, but it seems that conjugation of... 

Iodine in seawater is also incorporated into microalgae (phytoplankton) and macroalgae (seaweed). 

McLachlan, J. Macroalgae (seaweeds) Industrial resources and their utilization. Plant Soil 89 (1985) 137-157. 

Aquatic biomass types such as microalgae and macroalgae (seaweeds) have been suggested as good candidates for the production of fuels and value-added chemicals because of their advantages of higher photosynthetic efficiency higher biomass production, and... 

Macroalgae (seaweed), microalgae and other water-grown biomass not used for food... 

Marine biomass, including microalgae and macroalgae (seaweeds), would still be one of the centers of bioenergy research. The potential of microalgae for the biodiesel... 

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