Seaweed Sustainability

Food and Non-Food Applications

Brijesh K. Tiwari, Brijesh K. Tiwari

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780124199583
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Food Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Seaweed Sustainability: Food and Non-Food Applications is the only evidence-based resource that offers an abundance of information on the applications of seaweed as a solution to meet an increasing global demand for sustainable food source.

The book uncovers seaweed potential and describes the various sources of seaweed, the role of seaweeds as a sustainable source for human food and animal feeds, and the role of seaweed farming for sustainability. In addition to harvesting and processing information, the book discusses the benefits of seaweed in human nutrition and its nutraceutical properties.

• Offers different perspectives by presenting examples of commercial utilization of wild-harvested or cultivated algae, marine and freshwater seaweeds
• Discusses seasonal and cultivar variations in seaweeds for a better understanding of their implications in commercial applications
• Includes a wide range of micro and macro algae for food and feed production and provides perspectives on seaweed as a potential energy source

Chapter 1

Seaweed sustainability – food and nonfood applications

Brijesh K. Tiwari

Declan J. Troy Department of Food Biosciences, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

At present sustainability is one of the main societal challenges. The core objective of global sustainability is to match the supply of food, feed, and fuel with the demand of the world’s growing population in the most appropriate way possible. As we look toward unlocking the potential of our seas and oceans as a reserve of much needed resources to sustain our planet while protecting, improving, and helping our seas and oceans to flourish in order to increase their value to the economy, society, and the environment. Cultivation of seaweed has the capacity to grow massive amounts of nutrient-rich food for human consumption. Ocean farms are seemingly more sustainable compared to land-based agriculture because cultivation of seaweeds requires no fresh water, chemical fertilizer, or land, which are the significant negative factors to land-based cultivation. Apart from being an excellent source of food, seaweeds can be a substantial feedstock for biomass, biofuel production, and for animal feeds.

Keywords

Porphyra yezoensis

Saccharina japonica

seaweeds

Undaria pinnatifida

1. Introduction

At present sustainability is one of the main societal challenges. The core objective of global sustainability is to match the supply of food, feed, and fuel with the demand of the world’s burgeoning population in the most appropriate way possible. With the era of seemingly plentiful and cheap resources coming to an end, and with the combined impacts of climate change and current agriculture production and consumption patterns undermining our planetary habitat, it has been estimated that based on current trends, the equivalent of more than two planet Earths will be needed by 2050 to support the growing global population. As we look toward unlocking the potential of our seas and oceans as a reserve of much needed resources to sustain our planet, our responsibility is to do so while protecting, improving, and helping our seas and oceans to flourish in order to increase their value to the economy, society, and the environment. Cultivation of seaweed has the capacity to grow massive amounts of nutrient-rich food for human consumption. Ocean farms are seemingly more sustainable compared to land-based agriculture because cultivation of seaweeds requires no fresh water, chemical fertilizer, or land, which constitute some of the significant negative factors to land-based cultivation. Apart from being an excellent source of food, seaweeds can be a substantial feedstock for biomass, biofuel production, and for animal feeds.

1.1. History of seaweeds

Seaweeds have been used all over the world for thousands of years for various food and nonfood applications. Traditionally, in China, Korea, and Japan seaweed has been used as food for over 2000 years. In Japan seaweed is used to make “nori” from Porphyra species, which is a dried sheet of seaweed used in the preparation of sushi. In Malaysia and Indonesia seaweeds are eaten fresh as salad. South East Asian countries have a long history of seaweed application in food whereas the application of seaweeds in the western world was mainly associated with nonfood applications. In Greece seaweeds were used to feed animals as early as 100 BC. In Mediterranean countries red seaweeds were used for medicinal purposes. In Ireland and Scotland seaweeds were used by farmers for agricultural applications, such as, mulch for soils. The most common system for seaweeds in Europe is harvesting of natural stocks whereas in Asian countries seaweeds are cultivated for various applications.

1.2. Relevance of seaweeds

Seaweeds, which are often neglected or ignored, have significant academic, biological, environmental, and economic roles in the coastal ecosystem. The term seaweeds (“sea” and “weed”) often invokes an image of smelly and rotting masses found on beaches, which does not present a positive image in various western countries. “Kaiso” is a generic Japanese term for all varieties of edible seaweeds derived from the term “kia” (ocean), which can represent water, plants, and trees – a more acceptable term representing photosynthetic organisms from oceans (Nisizawa, 2002). China is the major producer of seaweeds, followed by Japan and Korea. Most people around the world knowingly or unknowingly use seaweed or products derived from seaweeds in various forms, including processed dairy, meat, and fruit products as well as domestic commodities like paint, toothpaste, solid air fresheners, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals (Dhargalkar and Pereira, 2005).

Nowadays, the seaweed processing industry in Europe is comprised of several sectors including biopolymers, cosmetics, agrifood, and functional food additives with various health properties. In the European Union, seaweeds are primarily used for the commercial production of additives for both food and nonfood applications (e.g., alginates). Like any processing industry, the production of additives from algae generates several by-products and waste, which are usually discarded. Disposal of these by-products is not justified from the economic, social, and environmental perspective, given the fact that these by-products contain valuable bioactives (e.g., health-promoting biochemicals), fine biochemicals (e.g., dyes and pigments), and biomolecules (e.g., proteins, oils, etc.). Bioactives from seaweed processing waste are reported to possess several biological activities including (i) antimicrobial activity (disinfection), (ii) antioxidant activity (potential replacement for chemical antioxidants used in the food industry), and (iii) inhibition of lipid peroxidation, antiproliferative activity, antidiabetic effect, and anti-inflammatory substances for various pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications. Seaweeds have also been investigated for fuel applications. Integrated biorefinery solutions will allow sufficient scale to enable the economic production of fuel from seaweeds (Boxes 1.1–1.3).

Box 1.1

Saccharina/Laminaria is one of the most important macroalgal genera of brown algae (Phaeophyceae) in temperate to polar rocky coastal ecosystems, especially in the northern hemisphere. It is chiefly found in the northern Pacific Ocean and the northern Atlantic Ocean at depths from 8 m to 30 m. Exceptionally, it was found at a depth of 120 m in the warmer waters of the Med...