Valorisation strategies for brown seaweed biomass production in a European context

Abstract

Phaeophyta (brown algae) represent a significant proportion of macroalgal production worldwide. While there are around 1500 species of brown algae, biomass production originates from only a small number of species. Production is far greater in Asia where seaweed farming is part of the cultural background, where the primary use is for human consumption, and where growing conditions are significantly different from the European contexts. With all of this in mind, the cost of European seaweed aquaculture production is not currently economically viable if brown algae biomass were to be produced purely as bulk feedstock for agricultural fertilizers or animal feeds. This review focuses on three target brown algae species (Laminaria digitata, Saccharina latissima and Alaria esculenta), investigating the potential uses for these seaweeds as both bulk feedstock and also for the production of higher value extracted components in the following areas: hydrocolloids, animal feed, chemical production through fermentation, human foodstuffs, agricultural applications, cosmetics and pharmaceutical applications.