THE HEALING POWERS OF SEAWEED AND ALGAE By GEORGE FELFOLDI, DD, Ph.D.

2006, George Felfoldi

THE HEALING POWERS OF SEAWEED AND ALGAE

Table Of Contents
Title Page 1 Sub Title Page 3 Table Of Contents 4 Copyright Information 5 Dedication 6 About The Author 7 Other Books 8 Special Thanks 9 Introduction 10 What Is Seaweed? 11 Three Main Type Of Algae 16 Using Seaweed As Food 30 Medicinal Uses Of Seaweed 32 Uses Of Seaweed 35 Its Good For 36 Algae 38 What Is Algae? 39 Agars 41 Diatoms 42 Dinophyta: Dinoflagellates 44 Future Prospects Of Seaweed 46 Testimonial 48 Comments Are Welcomed 49

Copyright Information

Copyright ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the author or from the publisher. Except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written from inclusion in a magazine, newspaper or broadcast.

Dedication
I would like to dedicate this eBook to all my friends around the world who love this special plant. And also to my wife Bettyanne Felfoldi for her love and understanding and for introducing me to these amazing plants.

About The Author

Doctor George Felfoldi

Is an Author, a musician and also an Independent Baptist Minister who is a native of Toronto, Canada. George holds various doctors degrees in 8 different fields, and has written several books on, The Occult, Ships, Health, Herbals, Religion, Poetry and Lyrics. George is married and has four grown children.

Other Books
Katoomba-Columbia The Powers Of Garlic Speaking To God Through Prayers Meaning Of New Birth GINGER The Herb And Root Guide The Complete Book On Angels CHAMOMILE The Healing Herb The Healing Powers Of Aloe Vera The Healing Powers Of CRANBERRY

Special Thanks
I would like to thank the following people and Organizations:

FOA Organization (China) The Seaweed Organization (Ireland) The Toronto Library Information Center Bettyann Felfoldi Margaret Felfoldi-McPhee And all my other friends Please not that most of the information that are in this book are common knowledge and public domain information.

Introduction
Over the world for several centuries there has been a traditional use of seaweeds as food in China, Republic of Korea and also in Japan. As people from these countries have migrated around the world, this custom has moved with them, so that today there are many more countries where the consumption of seaweed is not unusual. Coastal dwellers in tropical climates such as Indonesia and Malaysia have also eaten fresh seaweeds, especially as salad components. In the recent years there has been a strong movement in France to introduce seaweed into the European cuisine and also in European cooking, with some success, although it is still regarded as an exotic component of the menu. It has gained some acceptance in regions like California, Hawaii, Toronto, where communities of Japanese are large and the taste for seaweeds spreads out into the surrounding population through finding them on restaurant menus and supermarket shelves. On the east coast of the United States and Canada, around Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, some companies have begun cultivating seaweeds onshore, in tanks, specially for human consumption, and their markets are growing fast, both in those two countries and with exports to Japan. Ireland and North Ireland are showing a renewed interest in seaweeds that were once a traditional part of the countries diet. Already on the market in many countries around the world are cooking books incorporating recipes using the so called sea-vegetables. With the current trend for consumers to embrace organically grown foods and natural foods from clean enveronments, seaweeds should receive an increasing acceptance.

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What Is Sea Weed?

Gen. 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth Gen. 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. Gen. 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. Rev. 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

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What Is Seaweed?

SEAWEED are algae that live in the sea or in brackish water. Scientists often call them benthic marine algae, which means attached algae that live in the sea. Seaweed come in three basic colors: which are green, brown and also red, as dulse is the red seaweed; sea lettuce is amongst the green algae; and the brown is a wrack. Red and brown algae exclusively marine, whilst green algae are also common in freshwater and in terrestrial situations. Many of these ancient organisms, and although lumped together as algae are not actually closely related, having representation 5 Kingdoms of organisms. There are about 10,500 species of seaweeds, of which 6,500 are red algae (Rhodophyta).

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Sargassum

In general all aspects of seaweed are marine algae: which is a saltwater

dweller. A single organism that fall into the outdated general category of plants. Most of these plants are green in color but there are, green (1200 species) brown (2200 species) or red (6500 species). The king that are shown here on this page attached by holdfasts, which just have an anchorage function. Most part major groups of seaweed: wracks (member of the brown algae order as Fucus and kelps (member of the brown algal order Laminariales Laminaria, and some have heard of Carrageen Moss (a red alga), and Dulse (also a red alga, Palmaria palmata). Seaweed makes up the sea, a large ocean gyre in the western Atlantic Ocean where drift plants of the Sargassum accumulate or build up. These different forms of seaweed are very important ecologically: they dominate the rocky intertidal in most of temperate and polar regions dominate rocky surfaces in the shallow subtidal. Some of these plants can be found at deep depths particularly in clear water.

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Seaweed are found throughout the worlds oceans and seas and none of these plants are known to be poisonous. Many are considered to be a great delicacy. Seaweed are used in many maritime countries for industrial applications and as a fertilizer. The major utilization of these plants as food are in Asia, where seaweed is cultivated has become a major industry. The main food species grown by aquaculture in China, Korea and in Japan are Nori (Porphyra, which is a red alga), Kombu or Kondu (Laminaria, a brown alga), and Wakame (Undaria, which is also a brown alga). In the country of Japan alone, the total annual production value of nori amounts to 1 billion dollars in (US), one of the most valuable crops produced by aguaculture in the world. In most western countries food and animal consumption is relatively restricted and there has not been any great pressure to develop mass cultivation techniques.

Nori (Japanese Red Seaweed)

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In the country of Japan, industrial utilization is at present largely confined to extraxting for physical to a much lesser extent, certain fine biochemicals. Fermentation is not being carried out on an industrial scale at present time but are possible in the future, particularly as conventional fossil fuels run out. Seaweeds are in cosmetics and fertilizers. They have the potentials to be used as a sound short-chain chemicals with medicinal and industrial uses. Marine alga is used as energy-collectors and potentially useful substances may be a fermentation and pyrolysis. Seaweed extracts appear in the oldest of places: you have probably has sort of seaweed extract in the last 24 hours as many food contain seaweed polysaccharides such as agars, carrageenans and alginates. Seaweed have been popular in Ireland since Edwardian times. The latest innovations is the incorporation of seaweed into a fiber as well and absorb what your skin excretes. Seacell is mostly being used in bras and briefs.

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THREE MAIN TYPE OF ALGAE

CHLOROPHYTA: GREEN ALGAE

Example: Chlamydomonas, Spiroyra, Ulva.

Characteristics: Green color from Chlorophyll a and b in the proportions as the higher plants, vu-carotene; and various xanthophylls. Food reserves starch, some fats or oils. Thought to be the origin of the higher green plants but there are some doubt on this point. This green algae may be unicellular, multicellular, colonial or it could also be composed of one large cell without cross-walls; the cell may be uninucleate or multinucleate. They have membrane-bound and nuclei. Most species are aquatic and are found commonly in freshwater and marine habitats; some are terrestrial growing in trees or on rocks. Some are symbiotic with fungi given licher symbiotic with animals, the freshwater coelentrate symbiotic species of Chlorella as does Paramecium bursai protozoan. Chlorella is now grown and sold as a health supply. A number of freshwater green algae such as charophytes and desims are now included in the Charophyta, a phylum of most free terrestrial algae, that are more closely related to the higher marine algae.

Asexual reproduction may be by fission (splitting) fragment zoospores

(motile spores). Sexual reproduction is very common between isogamous (gametes both motile and same size);

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Anisogamous (both motile and different sizes - with the female being a bit bigger) or oogamous (female non-motile and egg-like; male motile). May have an alternation of haploid and diploid phases. The haploid phases from gametangia (sexual reproduction organs) and the diploid phases from zoospores by reduction division (meiosis). Some do not have an aternation of generations, meiosis occurring in the zygote. There are however about 8,000 species of green algae, and about which 800 of them are marine.

AONORI OR GREEN LAVER (Monostroma spp. and Enteromorpha ssp.)

These two green seaweed genera are now cultivated in Japan. Enteromorpha cultivation has been attempted also in the Republic of Korea but with very limited success. Monostroma latissimum occurs naturally in the bays and gulfs of southern areas in Japan, usually in the upper eulittoral zone. These two are cultivated in shallow, calm waters, such as found in bays and estuaries, but, like the Porphyra, it can also be grown in much deeper waters using floating rafts. It is a flat, leafy plant and it is only one cell thick. It averages 20% protein and has a useful vitamin and mineral content. This plant has a life cycle involving an alternation of generations, one generation being the familiar leafy plant, the other microscopic and approximately spherical. It is this latter generation that releases spores that germinate into this leafy plant.

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FOR CULTIVATION, these spores are collected on a rope net by submerging the nets in areas where natural Monostroma population grows; the spores settle on the nets as they are released by the microscopic spheres. There are other artificial ways of seeding the nets that are used, if the waters around the natural populations are too muddy. The seeded nets are then placed in the bay or estuary using either of the two methods. Previously described for Porphyra, fixed to long poles so that they are under water at high tide and exposed for about 3 to 4 hours at low tide, or using floating rafts in deeper waters. The nets are harvested every 3 to 4 weeks and the growing season allows about 3 to 4 harvests. All the harvested seaweed is washed well in seawater and also in freshwater. It can then either be processed into sheets and dried, for sale in shops, or dried, either outside or in dryers, and then boiled with sugar, soy sauce and other ingredients to make nori jam. Enteromorpha prolifera and Enteromorpha intestinalis are both cultivated although the production of Monostroma is much greater. Both species are found in bays and river mouths around Japan, and are also found in many other parts of the world, including Europe and North America. It can thrive in both salt and brackish waters and is usually found at the top of the sublittoral zone. It contains about 2o% protein, very little fat, and is very low in sodium and iron and calcium. Its vitamin B-group content is generally higher then most vegetables, and while its vitamin A is high, it is only half of that found in spinach. It was and is collected from natural sources, but careful cultivation can ensure greater uniformity and better color (green is good, but greener is better). Sea lettuce adequately describes a thin green seaweed, a species of Ulva, that appear in the mid to lower eulittoral zone. It is collected from the wild and sometimes added to the above two seaweeds as part of aonori. It has a higher protein content than the other two, but is much lower in vitamin content, except for niacin, which is double that of Enrtomorpha.

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PHAEOPHYCEAE: BROWN ALGE

Examples are: Laminaria And Saccharina, Fucus, Sargassum multicum Characteristics:

The brown color of these algae results from the dominant xanthophyll pigment fucoxanthin; this mask the other pigment Chlorophyll a and c (no Chlorophyll b), beta-carotene and sugars and higher alcohols; the principal carbohydrate reset laminaran and true starch is absent (compared with the green) walls are made of cellulose and alginic acid, a long chained heteropolysaccharide. There are no known unicellular representatives; the simplest form of plant is a branched, for thallus. The kelps are the largest up to 70 meters long and the brown algae and are the only algae that is known to have inter differentiation into conducting tissue; there is however, no tissues found in the higher plants. Most of the brown algae have an alternation of haploid and diploid generations. The haploid thalli from isogamous, anisogamous or oogamous gametes and the diploid thalli from zoospores by meiosis. The haploid (gametangial) and diploid (sporangial) thalli may be smaller (isomorphic) or different (heteromorphic) in appearance, or the gametangial generation may be extremely reduced (Fucales). There are about 26,000 tons of the brown Giant Kelp Macrocystis pyrifera are harvested each year of the coasts of Mexico, California, and Chile for extraction of alginic acid. This is used commercially for toothpastes, soaps, ice cream, tinned meat, fabrics painting, and a host of other applications. It forms a stable viscous gel in water, and its primary function is the above applications is as a binder, stabilizer, emulsifier, or a molding agent.

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ABOUT 16,000 tons of Ascophyllum nodosum (Feamainn bhui in Irish), refering to the yellow color in summer each year in Ireland, dried and milled in factories at Kilkerrin, Co. Galway; and about 3,000 tons of the resulting seaweed are exported and processed in Scotland for the production of alginic acid. Laminaria hyperborae strips (sea Rod) and harvested in Norway and used to be collected in drift in Scotland and in Ireland. The rods are used for the manufacturing of grade alginates. Other brown algae are used for the extraction of agricultural sprays (liquid seaweed extracts), are used at low concentrations on crop and there hormone-like activities are thought to be due to betaines. There are about 2200 species of brown algae, and most of them are marine. In general, brown algae are larger then most that are found in colder or cooler waters and virtually all the biomass worldwide comes from relatively small number of species such as Laminariales and Fucales. Kombu or Haisai (Laminaria japonica) Kombu is the Japanese name for the dried seaweed that derived from a mixture of Laminaria species. The species include L. longissima, L. paponica, L. angustata, L. coriacea and also L. ochotensis. All these species are harvested from natural sources, mainly on the northern island of Hokkaido, with about 10% coming from the northern shores of Honshu. The first three of the above are the main components of the harvest. The plants grow on rocks and reefs in the sublittoral zone, from 2 to 15 meters deep. They prefer calm waters at temperatures between 3 and 20 degrees C. Haidai is the Chinese name for Laminaria japonica, a seaweed that was

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introduced to China by accident from Japan in the late 1920s. Previously, China had imported all requirements from Japan and from the Republic of Korea. It is now cultivated on a large scale in China. It is a large seaweed, that is usually 2 to 5 meters long, but it can grow up to 10 meters in favourable conditions. It requires water temperatures above 20 degrees C., Laminaria japonica grows naturally in the Republic of Korea,

and is also cultivated, but on a smaller scale; the demand for it is low because Koreans prefer wakame (Undaria pinnatifida). Laminaria species contain about 10% protein, 2% fat and useful amounts of minerals and vitamins, though generally lower than those found in nori. For example, it has 1/10th the amounts of vitamin and niacin, half the amount of B1 but has three times the amount of iron compared with nori. Brown seaweeds also contain iodine, which is lacking in nori and other red seaweeds. The Japanese have a tradition of eating kombu, going back for several centuries, and had a plentiful supply of Laminaria by harvesting from its natural beds on Hokkaido. The naturally growing plants are biennial and are ready for harvesting after 20 months.
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Harvesting is from June to October, from boats. Hooks of different types are attached to long poles and used to twist and break the seaweed from the rocky bottom. As demands grew in the 1960s, attempts were made to develop artificial cultivation methods, but the two year cycle meant the cost were too high. In the 1970s, forced cultivation was introduced, reducing the cultivation period from 2 years to just 1 year, similar to the system developed in China in the early 1950s. Today about one third of Japans requirements come from cultivation, with the remaining two thirds still coming from natural resources. China itself has no natural source of Laminaria but it appeared in the northern city of Dalian in 1927 with the importation of logs from Hokkaido in Japan. The Japanese, who then occupied that part of China, tried to increase the growth by their traditional methods of throwing rocks into the sea. As it spread, it was harvested from these sublittoral rocks, but there had always been a strong demand for haidai in China, so importation was still necessary. In the 1950s, China developed revolutionary techniques for its cultivation and today about 4 million tons of wet seaweed are harvested per year.

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RHODOPHYTA: RED ALGAE

EXAMPLES: Palmaria, Coralline algae

Characteristics: The red color of this type of algae results from the pigments phycoerythrin and phycocyanin; this masks the pigments, Chlorophyll a (no Chlorophyll b), beta-carotene and the unique xanthophylls. The main reserves are typically flavor and floridoside, the true starch is absent. The walls are many and agars and carrageenans, both long-chained polysaccharates widespread commercial use. There are no unicellular reset of diverse origin; more complex thalli are build up of filament. A very important group of red algae is the coralline algae. It has calcium carbonate on the surface of their cells. Some of these corallines are articulated, with flexible erect branches; others are crustose. These corallines have been used in bone-replacement therapies around the world. Coralline algae were also used in ancient times as vermifunges.

THE RED ALGAE

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The Red Algae Kappaphycus and Betaphycus are now the sources of carrageenan, and commonly used ingredients to add flavor to yogurts, chocolate milk and prepared pudding. Gracilaria, Pterocladia and other red algae are used in the manufacturing of all imported agar, which is used widely as a growth to microorganisms and for biotechnological applications.

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Purple Laver Or Nori (Porphyra spp.)

Nori is the purplish-black seaweed often seen wrapped around a small handful of rice in sushi. It comes largely from cultivation in Japan, the Republic of Korea and also from China. In Japans list of products from marine culture, nori has the highest production, which is followed by oysters, yellowtails and wakame, the last being another seaweed used as food. Nori grows as a very thin, flat, reddish blade (as seen below), and is found in most temperate intertidal zones around the world, illustrated by its history of being eaten by the indigenous people of northwest America and Canada, Hawaii, New Zealand and other parts of the British Isles.

Nori (Porphyra umbilicalis)

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Net Cultivation Of Porphyra

It is among the most nutritious seaweeds, with a protein content of 30-50%, and about 75% of that is digestible. Sugars are low (0.1%), and the vitamin content very high, with significant amounts of Vitamin A, C, Niacin and Folic Acid, but the shelf life of vitamin C can be short in the dried product. During processing to produce the familiar sheets of nori, most of the salt is washed away, so the sodium content is very low. The characteristic taste of nori is caused by the large amounts of three amino acids: alanine, glutamic acid and glycine. While Porphyra can be collected by hand from natural sources, most is now derived from cultivation. Porphyra has an unusual life cycle that was not understood until the early 1950s. Until then it has been cultivated but nobody knew where the spores came from, so there was little control over the whole cultivation process. The seaweed, as we know it today, sheds spores and these settle on mollusc shells: in nature it is any nearby; in cultivation they are deliberately placed beneath the blades of the seaweed. An alternate generation of filamentous algae develops from these spores and burrow into the surface of the shell: this is called the conchocelis stage. With lowered light (shorter days) and lower temperatures, more, but different, spores form from the filaments and these are allowed to settle unto nets. It is these spores that develop into the blades of Porphyra. The nets are placed in the ocean in such a way that they are exposed to air for a few hours a day. The Porphyra is reasonably resistant to some drying out, but the pest seaweeds that try to grow on the

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nets do not survive. The nets were originally set up in intertidal flat areas, but a space becomes short, a new system of floating nets in deeper water was developed. The spores germinate on the nets and grow into new blades of Porphyra. Good Quality of nori is in demand in the Republic of Korea, where production methods differ between the northern and southern areas. The floating system is used in the south and production cost are cheaper than in the north, where the original shallow water pole system is used. However, the northern quality is better and it commands a higher price. Attempts have been made to cultivate Porphyra in non-Asian countries, notably the west and east coast of the U.S.A. . Cultivation on the west coastPuget Sound in Washington State, was successful but became unviable commercially when residents of the shore areas objected to the presence of seaweed farms and access to sufficient space to expand the pilot farm was refused. In Maine, on the east coast, cultivation problems with indigenous species of Porphyra slowed process, but as these were being overcome, regulatory issues between landholders and commercial fisherman again delayed progress. In the meantime, the company was recognized, decided to develop other marine biotechnology interests and to discontinue the nori project.

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Japanese cultivation of Porphyra yields about 400,00 wet tons per year and this is processed into ca 10 billion nori sheets (each 20 x 20 cm, 3.5 - 4.0 g), representing an annual income of US$ 1,500 million. In the Republic of Korea, cultivation produced 270,00 wet tons, while China produced 210,00 wet tons of the product. The process of wet Porphyra into dried sheets of nori has become highly mechanized, rather like an adaptation of the paper-making process. The wet Porphyra is rinsed, chopped into small pieces and stirred in a slurry. It is then poured onto mats or frames, where most of the water is drained away, and the mats run through a dryer machine. Rate of drying is carefully controlled by adjusting

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conveyer speed and temperature. The sheets are peeled from the mats and packed in bundles of ten for sale. This product is called Hoshi-Nori, which distinguishes it from yaki-nori, which is toasted. Toasted nori is nori pre-toasted and sold in sealed packages; in use it may be brushed with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, sake and seasonings. Nori is used mainly as a luxury food. It is often wrapped around the rice ball of sushi, which is a typical Japanese food, consisting of a small handful of boiled rice with a slice of raw fish on the top. After a short baking, nori can be cut into small pieces and sprinkled over boiled rice or noodles. It can be incorporated into soy sauce and boiled down to give an appetizing luxury sauce. It is also used as a raw material for jam and also for wine. In China it is mostly used in soups and for seasoning fried foods. In the Republic of Korea it is similar uses to Japan, except that a popular smack with beer is hoshi-nori that has been quickly fried in a pan with a little oil. Dried nori is in constant over supply in Japan and producers and dealers are trying to encourage its use in the United States and in other countries. Production and markets in China are expanding, although the quality of the product is not always as good as that from the Republic of Korea and that of Japan. Good quality nori is in demand in the Republic of Korea..

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Using Seaweed As Food

There is a trend today in Ireland that is refer to marine algae used as a food as Sea vegetables. The main species used in Ireland at present time is both dulse, carrageen moss, and various kelps and wracks. Dulse which is also known as Dillisk in a number of areas, is a red alga that is eaten on both sides of the North Atlantic. Generally only eaten in Ireland, most commonly in the west and north parts of the country after it has been dried, it is very often sold in small packets. About 16 wet tons are used in Ireland at the present time; the species is also eaten in Canada, Iceland, France, Scotland, and Norway. About 53 wet tons of carrageen moss were gathered in Ireland in 1994. While dulse and carrageen moss are worthy sea vegetables with a history of utilization and a small but proven market, other species also show considerable promise. Our kelp resources are considerably under-utilized. All of the kelp species are edible but Laminaria saccharina is probably the most palatable as it has a somewhat sweet taste, which is probably due to its high levels of mannitol, and it also cooks better. Two other brown algae with potential as food are currently under investigation. Himanthalia elongata, which is known in some places as thongweed, and the other is Alaria esculenta, which is also known as murlins.

Himanthalia is eaten in France after drying or pickling Spaghettis de mer, and plants are sold in Ireland dried. After soaking in the water it makes a surprisingly fine accompaniment to a mixed salad; it does not have a strong seaweedy taste that some people dislike. With the aid of a basic research grant from Forbairt, the Irish research and development body. Researchers are examining the growth and life cycle of populations of this species on the west coast. Plants are very easy to collect but must be dried quickly and packaged well to preserve their excellent taste.

Alaria is a large, kelp-like brown alga that grows on exposed shore lines. In Ireland, plants grow to considerable size up to 6 meters in length is some areas, but these plants are dwarfed by some Pacific species that may grow to 18 meters in length. With Marine Research Measure funding, a study of the possibility of developing fast-growing hybrids of crossing species from the
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Atlantic and Pacific is being carried out right now. We have growing in culture isolates of A. esculenta, Ireland, France, Scotland, Norway and Atlantic Canada and other species from British Columbia and Japan. These genus are ideal for cross-breeding studies as the males and females are tiny filamentous plants that are relative and propagate in culture. Red light stimulates reproduction, so we have a red-light district in our growth rooms for female reproductive structures occur on different plants so that we can put plants from one country in with those to see if they are sexually compatible. To date, we have obtained interesting results with A. praelonga, a large species from Japan, that co-operates sexually with A. esculenta from the Aran islands and other Irish sites. The resulting Irish progeny are grown initially in urine sample bottles agitated on a small shaker and their growth rates compared with having resulted from self crosses. By this we hope this method to obtain sterile hybrids or even polyploids, that will not reproduce in these can introduce foreign genome without the fear that some sort of a tryffid will be introduced that will take over Ireland. While studies are being done these two food species look very promising. We all must bear in mind that the market for such sea vegetables, is very small and needs development and investment in marketing. Nutritionally speaking, sea-vegetables are as good as a regular vegetable and in some cases, notably nori, are superior in their vitamins, trace elements and even protein contents. Catholic food tastes in Europe should see increasing utilization of seavegetables in the next two decades.

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Medicinal Uses Of Seaweed

Important Warning: I would like to point out here that all medicines, including herbal medicines, should be taken only on the advice of a medical doctor or a healthcare practitioner. Many beneficial treatments do not work in particular circumstances and may be antagonis medicines a particular dose and course of treatment must be observed; it should be noted that more of a good thing is not necessarily better. You should not treat yourself on the basis of any information. In Europe And in North America, many claims have been made for the effectiveness of seaweeds on human health. It is suggested, amongst other things, that seaweeds have curative powers for tuberculosis, arthritis, colds and in flu infestations, and that it may even improve ones attractiveness to the opposite sex. Digenea (Ceramiales; Rhodophycocyanin), an effective vermifungal agent (kainic acid). Recently, aqueous extracts from two red algae belonging to the family of Dumontiaceae have been found to inhibit the herpes simplex virus but no tests have been carried out on humans. Carrageenans have been patented as anti-viral agents. Many of the reported medicinal effects of marine algae substantiated. Corallina is being used in bone replacement therapy on humans. Some kelps may have polysaccharides that apparently reduce the incidence of breast cancer. Four seaweeds that are commonly used in CHINESE MEDICINE: The kelp Saccharina japonica and Ecklonia kurome as sources of kunbu (Saccharina sometimes it is called haidai, to distinguish it from Ecklonia and other sources) Sargassum, the brown algae, as the source of haizao; Sargassum is a large genus and several species are used. Porphyra, a red algae, as the source of zicai Saccharina and Sargassum have been used in China for the treatment of cancer. Inhibition of cancerous tumors seems to be caused by long-chained polysaccharides. Dry Saccharina stipes have long been used in obstetrics cervix and were known as Laminaria tents. The dry stipes slowly takes up
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water and expert stipes are also used in Chine for the insertion of intrauterine devices. According to Chinese Medicine, seaweeds have a salty taste that is an indication that the material can disperse accumulation, particularly as it forms soft masses, including goiter, the thyroid swelling that indicates severe iodine. The following are descriptions of seaweeds from the Oriental Materia Medica: Kunbu (Saccharina and Ecklonia) (Kombu in Japan) Essence and flavor: Salty, Cold Channel Entered: Liver, Stomach, Kidney Actions: Softens hardness, disperses accumulation, resolves phlegm, cleanses heat Applications: Scrofula, goiter, tumor, edema, accumulation, testicular pain and swelling

Haizao (Sargassum) (Hiziki in Japan; generally Sargassum fusiforme, but other sargassi are used in cleanses) Essence and flavor: Bitter, Salty, Cold Channel Entered: Liver, Stomach, Kidney Actions: Disperses accumulated phlegm, disperses goiter and tumor, delivers water, cleanses heat Applications: Tumor, goiter, scrofula, edema, testicular pain and swelling

Zicai (Porphyra) (Nori in Japan) Essence and flavor: Sweet, Salty, Cold Channel Entered: Lung Actions: Resolves phlegm, softens hardness, dispels heat, promotes diuresis Applications: Goiter, beriberi (leg swelling), edema, urinary infections, sore throat The description of kunbu and haizao are quite similar. Yang Yifan wrote about the differences between these seaweeds; Haizao and Kunbu are salty
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and cold, and enter the liver, lungs and kidney meridians. Both can cleanse transform phlegm, softens hardness and dissipate nodules. They can also promote urination and reduce edema practice, they are often used together to treat nodules such as goiter and scrofula. There are some differences in the two seaweeds. Haizao is stronger in softening hardness and in reducing congealed blood; it is more suitable for treating enlargement, liver cirrhosis, and tumors.

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Uses Of Seaweeds
Seaweeds are used in many maritime countries as a source of food, for
industrial applications as well as fertilizers, utilization of these plants as food in Asia, where seaweed cultivation has become a major industry. In some countries where food and animal consumption is restricted and there has not been any pressure to develop seaweed cultivation. This present and potential uses of seaweeds. Industrial utilization is at present largely confined to extraction for and to a much lesser extent, certain fine biochemicals. Fermentation and pyrolysis are not been carried out on a scale at present but are possible options for the 21 st century. The present uses of seaweeds at the present are human foods, cosmetics, fertilizers, and for the extraction of chemicals. They have the potential to be used as a source of long-and short-chain chemicals with medicinal uses. Marine algae may also be used as energy-collectors and potentially useful substances may be extracted.

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Its Good For

MEDICINAL
Thyroid swelling Goiter Scrofula Tumors Edema Disperse accumulation Testicular pain and swelling Urinary infections Sore throat Liver Stomach Lungs Kidney Reduces congealed blood For treating enlargements Bone replacement therapy Anti-viral agents Tuberculosis Colds Arthritis Flu infections Breast cancer Absorb skin excretions

FOOD Ice cream Flavoring Chocolate milk sea-vegetable Nori (used in sushi)
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 Nori (used in Jam)

INDUSTRIAL & OTHER USES Fertilizers Cosmetics Binder Stabilizer Emulsifier Molding agent Energy-collectors Grow micro-organisms Biotechnical applications Finger nail hardener

Research is still ongoing in different areas such as Medicine, Manufacturing of Cosmetics and even new products for human consumption. I will be updated in newer version of this book in the future.

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Algae

This is a basic Algae, freshwater, terrestrial and marine algae, (in other words seaweed)

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What Is Algae?
Pond scums, terrestrial algae, snow algae, seaweed, freshwater and marine phytoplankton. The plant body is undifferentiated, there are no true roots, leaves, etc. Algae is a very simple chlorophyll-containing organisms; some people and experts say that they are plants, others say that are more Protists or Protoctists. We use the term algae very loosely because defining them is very difficult. In general, they are very simple organisms composed of one cell, or grouped together in colonies, or as a organisms with many clusters collaborating together as simple tissues. Most algae form some sort of spore, which is a cell that is often motile and serves to reproduce the organism. A sex, often a very simple kind of sex where the algae themselves act as gametes, but sometimes very complicated sperm-like cells. Some of the large kelps have translocation but most of them do not. They have no need for water-conducting tissues at some stage, surrounded by water. They reproduce by spores of some kind. There are no seeds. Spores may be motile; which varies from phylum to phylum, e.g., the red and bluegreen algae are non-flagellated. Algae of one kind or another have been around for more than 2 billion years. We are still discovering new algae, whole groups of them at a time.

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Algae of another groups usually have two flagella. Reproduction may be isogamous, anisogamous, or oogamous, gametangia are not enclosed by a wall of sterile cells as in cryptogams. Mostly autotrophic (photosynthetic), pigments are the basis of classification; all have chlorophyll a; others c; all have accessory pigments of some kind. Some are heterotrophic. Great variations in size - unicellular and 3-10 um (micro) kelp up to 70 meters long and growing up to 50 cm per day. Found in mostly aquatic situations (need water and generally, to photosynthesise). Where are algae found? Well algae are found just about everywhere on earth, in the sea, in oceans and lakes, in animals and on plants (as symbionts -partners collaborating together); in fact just about everywhere where there which to photosynthesise. There are about 30,000 species of algae: up to date numbers and the numbers for each phylum are given. Dont forget: Algae (alguy or algay) is the plural (alga) is the singular.

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Agars

AGARS, a general name for polysaccharides extracted from certain kinds

of red algae, is built up of D-galactopyranose units. The name Agar is derived from the Malaysian word agar-agar, which literally means seaweed. As a gelling agent kanten, it is known from Japan since the 17 th century; extracts from red seaweeds were carried up the mountains to freeze overnight so that water and other impurities could be extracted from the material. Agar finds its widest use as a solid microbiological culture substrate. Modern agar is a purified form consisting largely of the neutral fraction known as agarose; the non-ionic nature of the later makes it more suitable for a range of laboratory applications. Agar in a crude or purified form also finds wide usage in the food industry where it is used in various kinds of ices, canned foods and bakery products.

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Diatoms

Examples: Asterionella, Amphipleura. Characteristics: Golden-brown color form fucoxanthin masking chlorophyll a and c; beta-carotene; various xanthophylls. Each cell is enclosed in a unique type of siliceous cell wall which takes the form of a box with an overlapping lid. DIATOMS are unicellular or colonial coccoid algae. Having membranebound chloroplasts and nuclei. Most are aquatic, occurring in the sea or in freshwater, but some occur on damp soil and rocks. Marine phytoplankton largely consists of diatoms and in temperate oceans where there is upwelling bringing nutrients to the surface they are responsible for the very high primary productivity in these areas. DEAD DIATOMS accumulating under such high-productivity areas from the diatom oozes. Geology derived from such oozes, mainly Tertiary in origin, are now mined as diatomite or diatoma used for water filtration, in toothpastes (as an abrasive) and in deodorants.

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Diatom It is estimated that the total primary production on earth is about 1.4 x 10 to the 14th kg of which 20% contributed by marine planktonic diatoms and a further 15-20% by other plantktonic algae are thus critical for the ecosphere integrity of Spaceship Earth. Because the siliceous cell wall is so well preserved the diatom have an extensive fossil record, more extensive than any other group of algae, and can be used to determine whether deposits have a marine or freshwate origin. The oldest fossil diatoms date the early Cretaceous (120 million years ago) and were marine. There are two types of diatoms: centric and pennate. The centric diatoms are radially symmetrical and the pennate diatoms are bilaterally symmetrical. Centric diatoms appear to have evolved first. There are about 250 genera of living diatoms and around 12,000 described species, by far the most numerous group of algae.

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Dinophyta: Dinoflagellates

Characteristics: Chlorophyll a and c, beta-carotene and a range of xanthophyll pigments including fucoxanthin and characteristic peridinin, neoperidinin, dinoxanthin, neodinoxanthin, and diatoxanthin. Histones are absent. Food starch (similar in structure to that of flowering plants) and oil. The wall or theca, when present, is composed of cellulose and eyespots may be present. Projectiles known as trichocysts are found in a number of species and probably have a protective evasive function. The dinoflagellate nucleus is very distinct and has an unusual combination of prokaryotic and eukaryotic. It is described as a mesokaryon and has permanent chromosomes. Some species of dinoflagellates have non chromosomes at some stage in their life cycle. Chromosomes generally membrane attached and the nuclear membrane during mitosis. The Dinophyta are probably a very ancient form diverged from other eukaryotic organisms before the evolution of eukaryotic chromatin. Dinoflagellates are a typically unicellular free-swimming organisms that constitute an important component of fresh and marine phytoplanktonic communities. These are however, of non-motile forms including amoeboid, coccoid, palmelloid filamentous types. Most have some form of

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photosynthesis saprophytic (feeding on decayed organic matter), symbiotic (feeding like an animal by ingesting solid food particles). Some modified parasites. The flagella of the motile cells are very distinctive. The typical pair of unequal, heterodynamic flagella, which have independent patterns. In dinoflagellates belonging to the class of Dinophyceae, they are located in grooves or depressions. An acronematic (lacking hair), posteriorly-directed flagellum is located in the oriented groove called the sulcus, and a flattened or ribbon-like flagellum is located in a transverse groove, those which encircle the cell in the equatorial region or closer to one pole than the other. The transverse flagellum coccoid cell, and its beat causes the cell both to turn and to be propelled in an anterior direction. Fine hair are reported to the transverse flagellum. The other, smaller, class recognized in the Dinophyta, the Desmophyceae, includes dinoflagellates that have both originating from the anterior end, and are bilaterally symmetrical. Asexual reproduction takes place by fission. Some reproduction have been only rarely reported by scientists; vegetative cells divide by meiosis in Noctiluca miliaris to form up to a uniflagellate isogametes. Pairs of gametes fuse and the zygote, after a resting period, develops directly. This species is unusual in having what appears to be a typical eukaryotic nucleus in the vegetative cell. The Dinoflagellates include about 150 genera and about 1500 species.

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Future Prospects Of Seaweed

The seaweeds eaten in very large quantities in China, Japan and in the Republic of Korea (nori, kombu nad wakame) are all in a state of full supply, if not oversupply, in those countries. Nori producers in Japan are looking for exports to the United States and other countries to absorb their surplus production. This, taken with the experiences of the two companies that attempted nori production in the United States, means it would not be advisable to invest in new production facilities for nori in the future. Certainly any prospective investors in developed countries would first need to secure rights to all the cultivation areas they propose to use. Those marketing wakame and other edible seaweeds in Europe, and France in particular, have shown that patience is needed to gain acceptance. However the oversupply of wakame in the Republic of Korea has shown how new innovative products can expand a market. Similarly, there is something to be learned from the two success of the two Canadian ventures, Sea Parsley and hana nori. Both are new products from seaweeds that have been accepted as human food for many decades. The success of their investors reflect both their ability to identify and exploit niche markets and the expertise to cultivate a consistent product. The venture in Hawaii illustrates another approach that can be taken. Here there was an established market for fresh seaweeds but an unreliable supply from natural resources. By investing in the equipment and expertise for cultivation, a successful operation producing fresh edible seaweeds has been established. The Philippines experience with Caulerpa cultivation as a fresh vegetable is another illustration of using cultivation to widen a market first established from wild seaweed; it is very surprising that this kind of enterprise has not been copied in other tropical countries. Innovation, cultivation and niche markets: the combination of these three may lead to greater success for the future investors, rather than attempts to break into the large markets for nori, kombu and wakame. We all know that not everyone will jump at the opportunity of having a plate of Caulerpa with their salad or having dulse as a snack. A different approach to the use of seaweeds in human food is sea farina. This is a food grade seaweed meal (ground dried seaweed) with a particle or mesh size dependent
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on the final application: fine for baking, coarser for use as salt substitute or condiments. This could be made on a small or on a large scale. There is a long list of sea plants that have been a traditional sources of human food around the world and this information could be used as a reference for collection and for cultivation. What would be a health benefits to people in developing countries if just 3% sea farina were added to the tortillas, pitas and to the breads of the world. Is there a market in developed countries for such a natural and organically grown additive to the normal diet? Properly dried sea vegetables and sea farina are stable for months, perhaps even longer. They do not need to be frozen or refrigerated, and sea farina is very compact and so easy to transport. THE LAST WORD. In the English language we have done ourselves a disservice calling this plant a (seaweed): weeds are something that we do not want, seaweed implies something negative about the product. When trying to convince other people to eat it, sea plants or sea vegetables or even just classify them under vegetables doesnt matter if it is grown in the sea or it is grown on land, may be it is the appropriate word/words to describe it.

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Testimonial
I have just received an e-mail from my sister Margaret Felfoldi-MacPhee who has informed me that she did use seaweed. This is in her own words, I used seaweed Kelp, when my nails were too brittle and also it is good for your hair. I took it in a pill form in 1990s, when my nails didnt grow and always broke. It did help, and my nails greatly improved, but the smell and taste was not the greatest. Margaret Felfoldi-MacPhee is a (RN or registered Nurse) here in Toronto.

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Comments Are Welcomed

All your comments are welcomed. Please feel free to write to me in regards to this eBook or to any other of my eBooks. The mailing address and e-mail address is listed below. I thank you in advance.

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This is a FREE eBOOK

Enjoy!

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