Review Paper
A Brief Review on Seaweed
Culture
K. Kishore Naik[1], Prashanth Kumar. C.S and T. Parameshwara Naik
Department of Botany, Sahyadri Science College, Kuvempu University, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India
ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT
1.
Introduction
The
Seaweeds are macrophytic algae, a primitive type of
plants lacking true roots, stems and leaves. Seaweeds grow in the shallow
waters, and lack root system and conducting tissues like land plants. Four groups
of seaweeds are recognized according to their pigments that absorb light of
particular wave lengths and give them their colors of Chlorophyceae
(green), Cynophyceae (blue green), Pheophyceae (brown) and Rhodophyceae
(red). The greatest variety of red seaweeds is found in sub tropical
and tropical waters, while brown seaweeds are more common in cooler and
temperate waters. Seaweeds provide valuable source of raw material for industries
like health food, medicines, pharmaceuticals, textiles, fertilizers and animal
feed. Seaweeds is also used for production of Agar,
Alginates and Carrageenan. Chemicals from brown seaweeds such as alginic acid, mannitol, laminarin, fucoidin and iodine
are extracted on a commercial basis.
As
a staple food in Japan and China, Seaweeds are rich in minerals, vitamins,
trace elements and bio active substances, and are called medical food of the 21st
century. Seaweeds are cultivated for supply of raw materials to the seaweed
industries and for their use as human food. In India, seaweeds collected from
wild are used raw material for the production of agar and alginate. Nearly 25
agar and 10 algal industries are functioning at different places in maritime
states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. Annually about 5000 tons (dry wt) of alginophytes, Sargassum spp., Turbinaria spp. and Cystoseiratrinodis and so many tonnes
of agarophytes Gelidiella acerosa, Gracilaria edulis, G.crassa and G. foliifera
exploited from the natural seaweed. beds mostly from south Tamil Nadu coast, are used as raw materials
by these industries. These quantities, particularly agar yielding seaweeds, are
inadequate to meet the raw material requirements of Indian seaweed industries.
As a number of seaweed industries are coming up every year, there is an increasing
demand for the raw materials which the existing resource cannot meet [1- 4].
Hence, commercial scale cultivation of seaweeds is necessary for uninterrupted
supply of raw material to industries.
There
are several advantages in the culture of seaweeds. In additions to continuous
supply of alga, crop of single species could be maintained continuously. By
adopting scientific breeding and other modern techniques of crop improvement the
yield and quality of seaweeds could be improved, Further, if seaweed culture is
carried out on large scale, natural beds could be conserved purely for
obtaining seed materials.
2.
Major Advantages of seaweed cultivation
Remedy
for non-availability of required quantity of seaweeds for various uses.
· Provide occupation
for the coastal people.
· Provide continues
supply of raw material for seaweed based industry.
· Provide seaweeds
of uniform quality for use in industry.
· Conserve natural
populations of concerned seaweeds.
· Seaweed
farming is an eco friendly activity.
· Major tool
to treat coastal pollution in the sea and reduce CO2 in global warming.
There
are two methods two methods of seaweed cultivation
· Vegetative propagation
method
· Reproductive
method
2.1 Vegetative Propagation Method
In
the vegetative propagation method, the fragments are inserted in the twists of
ropes, tied to nylon twine or polypropylene straw and cultured in the near
shore area of the sea. The fragments are also cultured by broadcasting them in
outdoor ponds and on shore tanks. The fragment culture method is a simple one
and gives quick results. Different culture techniques such as fixed off bottom
culture, floating raft cage culture, bottom culture, raceways culture and
tissue culture are adopted for cultivation of various economically important
seaweeds in different countries by vegetative propagation method [5-8].
2.2 Reproductive Method
In
this method, healthy reproductive plants collected from wild are transported to
the laboratory nursery and different types of spores such as swarmers, zoospores, tetra spores carpospores and mono spores
are collected on various substrata like nylon rope, synthetic rope, coir rope,
plastic strips (polypropylene straw/ raffia), Bamboo splint ladder, cement
blocks and coral stones [18-22]. The spores on the substrata are culture into spore
lings in the culture room/ hatchery
by manipulation of temperature light and providing nutrient culture media. Then
the sub strates containing sporelings
/ germlings are transferred to the suitable culture
areas in the sea for their further growth to harvestable size plants. This
method is followed for the commercial scale cultivation of edible red alga Porphyra and green algae enteromorpha
and monostroma; agar yielding red algae Gracilariacyl indrica and
align yielding brown algae Laminariua, Udaria and Marocystis in
foreign countries such as Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and U.S.A
[9-12]. In this method the spores take more periods for their development to harvestable
size plants when compared with the growth of fragments in the vegetative
propagation method [13-17].
Fig 1. Vegetative
propagation method
So far in
India, only experimental scale cultivation of commercially important seaweeds
such as Gelidiella acerosa, Gracilaria edulis, Hypnea musciform, Acanthophora spicifera and Saragassum species at different field environments
using various culture techniques of vegetative
propagation method.
Sargassum plagiophyllum,Enteroporphaflexuosa,Ulva fasciata and
Gracilaria edulis by
reproductive method using spores were carried out successfully. Only in recent years
pilot scale culture of Kappaphycus alvarezii being
carried out by Pepsi Co., in Mandapam area. The
various biotechnological aspects is being applied for large scale cultivation
of Porphyra (Japan, Korea, Taiwan), Undaira (Japan, Korea), Laminaria
(China, Japan), by reproductive propagation method and Eucheuma
and Kappaphycus (Philippines), Gracilaria
(Taiwan), Hypnea (Philippines), Chondrus
and Gigartina Florida and Caulerpa
(Philippines)by vegetative propagation method
can be adopted for the production of commercially important seaweeds on large
scale to meet the raw material need of Indian seaweed industries and to
conserve the natural seaweed resources of Indian waters for using as seed
material for commercial scale cultivation [23–24]. Seaweed cultivation on large
scale could not only augment supply of raw material to the net seaweed based
industries, but it would also provide employment to the net seaweed based
industries, but it would also provide employment to the people living in the
coastal areas of mainland, Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobar islands. This would
help in improving their economic status and thus help in rural up liftmen.
Fig 2.
Diagrammatical Representation of Reproductive Method
3. Conclusion
Seaweed culture, a sustainable
aquaculture practice, offers significant ecological and economic benefits. It
contributes to marine biodiversity, improves water quality, and provides a
renewable source of food, bioactive compounds, and biofuels. This review
highlights the advancements in cultivation techniques, including site
selection, farming methods, and post-harvest processing, emphasizing the need
for integrated multi-trophic aquaculture systems. Challenges such as disease
management, climate change impacts, and market development require ongoing
research and policy support. Overall, seaweed culture presents a promising
avenue for sustainable development, aligning with global environmental and
economic goals.
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