2. Introduction:
• Seaweed of benthic marine algae are the group of
plants that live either in marine or brackish water
environment.
• Like the land plants seaweed contain photosynthetic
pigment and with the help of sunlight and nutrient
present in the sea water, they photosynthesize and
produce food .
• Seaweed found in the coastal between high tide to low
tide and in the sub-tide region where 0.01%
photosynthetic light is available .
• They occur abundantly along the coasts of tamilnadu,
gujarat,lakshadweep and andaman-nikobar islands.
3. • It belongs to the private group of non-flowering ,
photosynthetic plants known as thallophyta and thus , have
similar ecological roles as that of other plants .
• Seaweed - the only source of agar, algin and carrageenan
phytochemicals that have wide applications in food.
Confectionary ,pharmacyeuticals ,dairy and paper
industries as gelling ,stabilizing and thickening agents.
• In India about 720 species seaweed are available ,of which
60 are commercially important .
• The first seaweed that had been ,described from the Indian
ocean was a specimen of amphiron(rhodophyta)collected
by Hermann in 1672 Linnaeus further recorded turbinaria
turbinate from Indian water .
• High protein content(35.6% in dried non- porphyra spp.),
high levels of vitamins A,B,B2,B6,B12,C and biotin.
4. • Contain higher amounts of important minerals like
calcium and iron than vegetables and fruits .
• They are basically classified according to colour into
THREE main group green( Chlorophyta) ,
brown(phacophyta) and red (Rhodophyta).
5. Anatomy:
Thallus: algal body
* Lamina or blade: flattened structure that is
somewhat leaf-like
> sorus: spore cluster
> pneumatocyst, air bladder:
a flotation-assisting organ on the blade
> kelp,float:a floatation-assisting organ
between the lamina and stipe.
* Stipe: stem-like structure, may be absent .
* Holdfast: basal structures providing attachment
to a substrate.
6. Brown algae:
Almost all 1,500 species are marine .
Almost always the dominant primary producers on
temperate and polar rocky coasts.
Phaeophyta .
Color varius from olive green to dark brown .
Due to yellow-brown pigments over chlorophyll.
Particularly fucoxanthin.
Kelps:
• Most common and complex of all brown algae.
• About 30 different species.
• Most found below the low tide level in temperate and sub-
polar latitudes.
• Provide food and shelter for many other organisms.
7.
8. Scientific classifications:
Domain : Eukaryota
(unr ank ed) : SAR
Super phylum : Heterokonta
Class : Phaeophyceae
Order : Fucales
Family : Sargassaceae
Genus : Sargassum
