is what
you
see floating near the shoreline or lying on the beach, or if you are
fortunate enough to go diving around a coral
reef you'll find it there too. Have you ever thought about what
seaweed is made of or what it could be used for? Seaweed contains ingredients
that are made up of natural
polymers that are used to produce the foods we eat and the
products we use.Yes, I was shocked to find this out too
Other than the occasional crustacean feeding off decaying seaweed found along the beach, many companies need and use seaweed. Corporations, who harvest seaweed, tend to stick with specific kinds of algae because they have discovered, through experimentation, that certain kinds of algae contain properties which have a higher quality than others. Laminaria is a brown kelp that is most commonly used.
The chemicals extracted from algae can be used in medical applications. For example iodine, found in Laminaria, is used to prevent goiter.
Carrageenan is a polysaccharide that when processed can be dried and used in soups, salads, and tea. Alginic acid is also a polysaccharide extracted from seaweed, which is believed to be made up of copolymers with some fiber axis. Alginic acid is
used to make seasonings such as sugar, salt
and soy sauce.
The alginic acid also functions as a stabilizing,
thickening agent. Another thickening agent is a polymer called Xanthan
Gum.Xanthan gum looks like this:
Both alginic acid and xanthan gum are used in paints, film, products such as toothpaste and jello, drinks such as chocolate milk, and food such as ice cream.
But don't let that change how you feel about eating ice cream or drinking chocolate milk. After all they wouldn't be as thick as they are if it weren't for these polymers.