The agar from Gracilaria
is used mainly in foods. Carragenans chiefly from
Eucheuma and Chondrus are widely used as
thickeners in dairy products. Alginates, from
Macrocystis and Laminaria, are also used as
thickeners in a multitude of products ranging from
salad dressing to oil-drilling fluids to the coatings
in paper manufacture (Chapman and Chapman,
1980; Waaland, 1981; Lobban and Harrison, 1994).