Kappaphycus (Rhodophyta) Cultivation: Problems and the Impacts of Acadian Marine Plant Extract Powder

Kappaphycus is one of the most significant, economically valuable red seaweeds, cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical waters. This alga demands a relatively high market value globally, due to applications of the kappa carrageenan colloid that is industrially extracted from the biomass. Carrageenan is widely used in food, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and for aquaculture applications.

The first successful commercial cultivation of Kappaphycus (previously called Eucheuma) was recorded from the southern Philippines. It took more than five years of fi eld trials from 1967 to the early 70s in order to domesticate Kappaphycus for reliable commercial cultivation. The first commercial quantities of “cottonii” produced from extensive cultivation were obtained in 1974 with a total production of 8,000 t. Dramatic increases in production were achieved and the Philippines was the leading producer of Kappaphycus for 33 years until it was overtaken by Indonesia in 2008. It was in 1978, when Kappaphycus farming first saw successful adoption in Indonesia under the initiative of the Copenhagen Pectin Factory. Due to these successes, Kappaphycus farming has also grown commercially in East Africa, Fiji Is., India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and southern China, although their volumes are minimal when compared to Indonesia and the Philippines. On the other hand, Latin American (Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Equador, Venezuela, Mexico, and Peru) and the Caribbean countries (St. Lucia, Jamaica, and Panama) are even more recent entrants to Kappaphycus cultivation. Most information comes from published pilot-plot, demonstration farms and scientifi c studies, as such, only relatively small commercial quantities are produced presently.