2
1 Introduction to Aquatic Biopolymers
different anatomical regions of the plant. Carbohydrates, for example, are stored
in chloroplasts, cytoplasm, periplastic compartment, peri-plastid membranes, in the
cytoplasm, and vacuole localized in the cytoplasm (Prabhu et al. 2019).
The diverse chemistry and bioactivity that can be derived from naturally sourced
polymers add to their significance. This is of particular importance as increasing
occurrence of cancer and other degenerative disease and resistance to existing antimicrobial drugs calls for more diverse and complex compounds existing in nature. The
rain forests are often described as the medicine chest of the world. This is attributed
to the presence of a diverse range of bioactive compounds which can be obtained
from the diversity of organisms in the rain forest. The aquatic ecosystem consists of
even more diverse range of organisms, and its existence and subsistence are crucial
to that of the rain forest and life on earth. This book provides the reader with a rich
understanding of the wide range of polymers which can be sourced from the aquatic
environment, some of which have bioactivities such as anticancer and antimicrobial
activities.
Due to limited access compared to land where humans are better adapted to inhabit,
the aquatic world is relatively underexplored. As technology advances, various tools
have been developed to better explore the world that exists below sea level. Today,
submersibles have been developed which can reach the deepest part of the ocean
which have previously been inaccessible. High-resolution specialized cameras which
can capture the faintest light underwater have also been developed alongside more
sophisticated analytical tools and techniques (Linley et al. 2016). This improved
access to the world below sea level has significantly improved knowledge and access
to the aquatic world in recent years. Within this book, we also explore some of the
polymers which have been discovered in recent years from deep-sea organisms.
When evaluating the commercial implications of production of biopolymers from
aquatic sources, it should be noted that apart from the cost of raw materials, the
downstream processing constitutes around 60% of the production cost. Downstream
processing is where the bulk of the value addition to the final product occurs. This
includes solid–liquid separation, purification, solvent recovery and product recovery.
Therefore within this book, some of these stages are included when the extraction
process for each polymer is described. This is with the aim to understand the processes involved in the production of the biopolymers and how these impact on the
environment.
As the aquatic ecosystems of the world are increasingly facing threat from pollution as a result of human activity and poor waste management (Hitchcock and
Mitrovic 2019), it is important, therefore, to understand what is at stake as far as the
aquatic environment is concerned. This book aims to provide an understanding of
the biopolymers existing within the aquatic ecosystem, how they are obtained, their
role in ecosystem as well as their existing and potential economic value.
The benefits of aquatic biopolymer production can be summarized as follows:
• Utilize aquatic waste from fisheries and aquaculture especially as aquatic activities
have shown an increase in recent times due to increased demand for aquatic food.
1 Introduction to Aquatic Biopolymers
different anatomical regions of the plant. Carbohydrates, for example, are stored
in chloroplasts, cytoplasm, periplastic compartment, peri-plastid membranes, in the
cytoplasm, and vacuole localized in the cytoplasm (Prabhu et al. 2019).
The diverse chemistry and bioactivity that can be derived from naturally sourced
polymers add to their significance. This is of particular importance as increasing
occurrence of cancer and other degenerative disease and resistance to existing antimicrobial drugs calls for more diverse and complex compounds existing in nature. The
rain forests are often described as the medicine chest of the world. This is attributed
to the presence of a diverse range of bioactive compounds which can be obtained
from the diversity of organisms in the rain forest. The aquatic ecosystem consists of
even more diverse range of organisms, and its existence and subsistence are crucial
to that of the rain forest and life on earth. This book provides the reader with a rich
understanding of the wide range of polymers which can be sourced from the aquatic
environment, some of which have bioactivities such as anticancer and antimicrobial
activities.
Due to limited access compared to land where humans are better adapted to inhabit,
the aquatic world is relatively underexplored. As technology advances, various tools
have been developed to better explore the world that exists below sea level. Today,
submersibles have been developed which can reach the deepest part of the ocean
which have previously been inaccessible. High-resolution specialized cameras which
can capture the faintest light underwater have also been developed alongside more
sophisticated analytical tools and techniques (Linley et al. 2016). This improved
access to the world below sea level has significantly improved knowledge and access
to the aquatic world in recent years. Within this book, we also explore some of the
polymers which have been discovered in recent years from deep-sea organisms.
When evaluating the commercial implications of production of biopolymers from
aquatic sources, it should be noted that apart from the cost of raw materials, the
downstream processing constitutes around 60% of the production cost. Downstream
processing is where the bulk of the value addition to the final product occurs. This
includes solid–liquid separation, purification, solvent recovery and product recovery.
Therefore within this book, some of these stages are included when the extraction
process for each polymer is described. This is with the aim to understand the processes involved in the production of the biopolymers and how these impact on the
environment.
As the aquatic ecosystems of the world are increasingly facing threat from pollution as a result of human activity and poor waste management (Hitchcock and
Mitrovic 2019), it is important, therefore, to understand what is at stake as far as the
aquatic environment is concerned. This book aims to provide an understanding of
the biopolymers existing within the aquatic ecosystem, how they are obtained, their
role in ecosystem as well as their existing and potential economic value.
The benefits of aquatic biopolymer production can be summarized as follows:
• Utilize aquatic waste from fisheries and aquaculture especially as aquatic activities
have shown an increase in recent times due to increased demand for aquatic food.