Types of Algae, their importance and uses
Types of Algae, their importance and uses
Assist. lecturer. Nuha Abdullah Mohammad Al-Taee
Man has known the benefits of algae for a long time and used it in his daily life, and many countries depend on algae in many of their daily affairs, such as the countries of Southeast Asia as well as Japan, where algae are used as an important food material, and a large number of drugs are extracted from them, and algae belong to a group Among the non-flowering plants are thallus and non-flowering plants, while the thallus, that is, its body consists of thallus, that is, it is not distinguished by true roots, stems and leaves. The family of algae contains about 22,000 species, and they live in wet, shady areas, in fresh or salt water, and live in sewage, ponds and swamps.
Types of Algae
Algae are classified into the following sections:
1- Fire algae, which are unicellular and form the basis of phytoplankton assemblies, and their large numbers because what is known as the phenomenon of red tides, which is highly toxic.
2- Golden algae, most of which are unicellular and live among freshwater plankton.
3- The diatomaceous algae are mostly unicellular and have glassy walls
4- Euglena algae, belonging to the genus Euglena, are endemic to stagnant pond waters.
5- Green algae, most of which inhabit fresh environments and a few of them are salty environments, and some of them are unicellular such as Chlamydomonas, and some of them form colonies such as Volvox, and some of them are multicellular such as Fuchera and Esperogera. Sea lettuce (Ulva) is one of the largest and most complex green algae, and parts of it are often seen on the Gaza beach these days.
1- Brown algae is the largest and most complex in the world of algae, and perhaps the kelps in it may reach a length of more than 100 meters. 2- Red algae are abundant in the warm coastal waters of the tropics.
Algae uses
Algae were used as food for humans, livestock and poultry. Laboratory analyzes showed that algae contain a large number of important nutrients, such as minerals, vitamins, proteins and amino acids. Algae are used as food in some fish farms, such as tilapia spp. Brown seaweed is a source of fertilizers and soil fertilisers after drying, because it contains a large proportion of nitrogenous substances, in addition to its ability to increase the water capacity of the soil. Moreover, its decomposition in the soil increases the soil content of organic matter and humus (Compost). It extracts iodine and agar, which is used as a medium in bacterial cultures. Dermatological materials such as sargassum are extracted from them. Microscopic algae are one of the most important sources of oxygen on Earth.
It has a role in the treatment of sewage water, where algae carry out the process of photosynthesis and thus provide oxygen to bacteria that oxidize the organic matter in that water. It is used in some industries such as the manufacture of ice cream, toothpastes, skin cleansers and deodorants. From some of them, chemicals are extracted that are used in the formulations of medical drugs, such as antibiotics. Algae contributed to the development of life sciences, as some types of algae, such as Chlamydomonas and Corella, were used in photosynthesis and genetics research. Current research is being carried out through environmental projects aimed at purifying the air from gases emitted and harmful to the environment through algae. The solution lies in the establishment of environmental reactors that take on the task of purifying the air from carbon dioxide, especially since the problem of climate change has become a threat to the world. entire, and threatens the melting of glaciers in several regions of the world.