ALGAE IN OUR LIFE

How we use Algae in our daily life ??

Food
Production of useful compounds
Ex: Biofilters To remove nutrients and other pollutants from
wastewaters

To assay water quality as indicators of environmental change

In space technology
As laboratory research systems
Commercially cultivated for Pharmaceuticals, Nutraceuticals,
Cosmetics and
Aquaculture purpose

Common uses of Algae:

Food Stuff:
Algaculture

Red dulse edible species Famous in Ireland

Purple Laver Laver Bread and Jelly in UK

Irish Moss Stiffening of Milk and Dairy products (ice cream)

 Sea Lettuce added to soups or used in salads

Nutrition:
Nutritional Supplement Spirulina (Blue Green Algae)

Chlorella (Green Algae) and Dunaliella High in Beta-Carotene

Vitamin C supplements

Fat Choy Chinese vegetable

 Oil from some algae high levels of unsaturated fatty acids

Ex: Parietochloris Incisa (green algae) has high levels of

Arachidonic acid (polyunsaturated fatty acids)
Fertilizer:
Seaweeds Manure

Commercial use of Algae Agar

Maerl organic gardening

Energy Source:
Biodiesel cheaper to produce, does not need freshwater or
fertilizer

Green algae hydrogen

Biomass heat and electricity
Pollution Control:
Wastewater treatment
Capture fertilizers in runoff from farms
Algae bioreactors reduce CO2 emissions

Dyes and Pigments:

 Natural pigments produced by Algae can be used as an

alternative to chemical dyes and coloring agents
Many of the paper products used today are not recyclable
because they use chemical inks but inks made from algae are
much easier to break down
In the food industry, food coloring agents currently used can be
replaced from algal pigments

FAMOUS ALGAE:
Blue Green Algae:
It is blue-green due to the presence of green Chlorophyll
pigment and blue phycocyanin pigment
Contaminate drinking water bad odour and taste
Bring about the radish colour of the Red sea
Used as soil fertilizer
Some species thrive in the digestive tract of human without
causing ill effects
Some have formed a partnership with fungi, making up separate
group of organism known as Lichens
Euglena :
found in stagnant ponds, swimming pools, aquariums making the
colour of water greenish with unpleasant flavor
Green Algae:
self-food maker (food producer) and add oxygen to water,
available for fish and other organism
water pollution in lakes, tanks etc.
in case of extra growth, they may lower the oxygen content fish
in this area may die due to suffocation
Copper Sulphate can eradicate unwanted green algae from the
water body
Brown Algae:

Brown pigment Flucoxanthin

Marine plants source of food for fish and other animals
Major source of Alginic acid
By removing from sea it can be used as Cattle Feed
Some species yield Iodine, some make excellent fertilizer
Kelps are B.Algae
Macyosist Pyrifera Giant kelp longest plant of the world

 Gulfweed or Sargassum B.Algae in Sargossa sea (West Indies to

Azores)
Diatoms:
Yellowish green to Yellowish brown diatoms have cell-wall
containing silica and harmless to man
They make up the bulk of the plankton as sea animal food
It serves as filter and clarifying agent for many liquids
Excellent insulating material for boilers, blast furnaces and
refrigerators
Milk abrasive in polishes and scouring powders
Red Algae:
Multi cellular used as food for sea animals and human
Irish Moss curing leather and for shoe polish, creams and
shampoo
Ceylon Moss yields a gelantinous material known as Agar Agar
Used by researchers as growth material for bacteria
Serves to thicken soups, as a sizing material for textiles, as a mild
laxative, to provide body for puddings, pastries, ice-creams etc.
Some algae secrete lime so they have helped to build coral reefs.

Algae Fact-file:
Simple living aquatic organisms, ranging from single-cell to multicellular organisms
Lack leaves, roots, flowers and other organ structures that
characterize higher plants
Capture light energy through photosynthesis and covert inorganic
substances into organic matter
Study of marine matter Phycology
Conduct photosynthesis within membrane-bound structures called
Chloroplasts which contain DNA
Some members are not photosynthetic as they retain plastids,
but not chloroplasts
Can endure dryness and other conditions in symbiosis with a
fungus as lichen