Research Projects

Seaweed is defined as a diverse and distantly related non-phylogenetic group of macroscopicaquatic eukaryotes comprising mainly of Chlorophyta (green algae), Phaeophyta (brown algae)and Rhodophyta (red algae) (Suutari et al. 2014). It may be noted that India has nearly 844 speciesof seaweed in 217 genera (Oza and Zaidi, 2001). In addition to the ecological importance, seaweedis a popular delicacy in parts of Asia and a source of hydrocolloids like agar, alginates, andcarrageenan including bioactive molecules (Rajabakse and Kim, 2011). However, the study ofseaweed diversity and its resource potential has been relegated in recent years despite itsimportance. This is evident from the lack of adequate information from the last two decades. Thisview is further strengthened by the data of seaweed resources along the coast of India(Dhargalkar and Pereira, 2005; Reddy et al. 2006), and there is apparent knowledge gap as aresult. In view of this, the present proposal has been made to survey and document the rocky intertidal macroalgal diversity, and identification of potential macroalgae with nutritional propertyfrom the Konkan coast. It may also be mentioned that the future nutrition source is predicted tobe from the seaweed, and the present proposal is aptly in line with this vision