Abstract

Seaweeds or macroalgae are commonly grouped into 3 taxa: green, brown, and red algae. They are important bioresources of the oceans and play a major function in the maintenance of its ecosystem. These marine algae are used for food, fodder, polysaccharide extraction, biofertilizers, cosmetics, papermaking, and biobased fuels. In this chapter, several topics on seaweed biology are included such as: the role in maintenance of ocean ecology, herbivory and predation defense mechanisms, life history of important seaweeds, and their commercial applications [1]. Agar is a jelly-like biopolymer synthesized by many red types of seaweed as their predominant cell wall component.