Seaweeds- HealthyLife

Seaweeds are sea plants, plants that grown in the sea. The nutrients / vitamins / trace elements are more readily available in seaweeds / sea plants than they are in land plants.

Eedible-seaweedSeaweeds / Algae are identified by their colors and comprise of three divisions:

• Brown Algae / Seaweed – Phaeophyta
• Red Algae / Seaweed – Rhodophyta
• Green Algae / Seaweed – Chlorophyta

Algae Industry:

• Of the global seaweed harvest 85% – 95% goes to the food industry and is worth approx €4.1 billion p. a.
• The most valuable crop produced by seaweed aquaculture is Nori – Porphyra – a red seaweed / alga. The value of this crop is around US$ 2 billion p.a. (approx 130 t dry weight)
• The seaweed that produces the largest amount by aquaculture is Laminaria japonica – similar to the Irish Seaweed Laminaria digitata.
• China produces around 3.8 million tones p.a. of Laminaria japonica
• The majority of the seaweed industry is by aquaculture in Japan, China and North & South Korea.

Use of algae:

1. Food and food supplements – edible seaweeds / algae that are sold as sea vegetables (sea veg, sea veggies) (image: sea weed and sea weed salad)
2. Fertilizers, liquid seaweed extracts and soil conditioners
3. Raw material for seaweed polymers such as the alginate industry
4. Cosmetics,bodycare,thalassotherapy and medicinal preparations.