seaweeds and seaweed-derived compounds: meeting the growing need for healthy biologically active compounds

Recent advances in the industrial application and industrial development of seaweeds are important in addressing the world’s growing needs for healthy nutrients. Seaweeds are a potentially sustainable feedstock for future food and feed, green chemicals, and fuels. For seaweed biorefinery, the fractionation of the biomass to co-produce multiple products is crucial in the efficient valorization of the aquatic biomass. Widespread use of seaweed is still limited by a number of factors including harvesting access, seasonality and geographical location of algae, toxicological aspects, as well as the availability of scalable production methods. A good example is protein isolation from algae, since current processes of algal protein isolation are time-consuming and economically unviable.

Seaweeds and Seaweed-Derived Compounds offers a comprehensive overview of sustainable seaweeds for the recovery of low-cost dietary nutrients from algae and alga-based biomass and their validation to meet market the requirements of consumers and industry in different sectors. With chapters focusing on seaweeds as foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic and dermatological applications, this text provides multidisciplinary knowledge of this sustainable biomass presented with a mix of academic and industrial perspectives.

Monica Trif is a researcher in the Food Research Department at the Centre for innovative process engineering GmbH in Germany

Fatih Ozogul is a Professor in the Department of Seafood Processing Technology, Faculty of Fisheries, at Cukurova University in Turkey

Alexandru Rusu is a researcher in the Strategic Research Department for Biozoon Food Innovations in Germany