Journal of Marine Science and Engineering Review A Review of the Varied Uses of Macroalgae as Dietary Supplements in Selected Poultry with Special Reference to Laying Hen and Broiler Chickens Garima Kulshreshtha 1,*, Maxwell T. Hincke 1,2, Balakrishnan Prithiviraj 3 and Alan Critchley 4 1 Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada;
[email protected] 2 Department of Innovation in Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada 3 Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Campus, Dalhousie University, PO Box 550, Truro, NS B2N 5E3, Canada;
[email protected] 4 Verschuren Centre for Sustainability in Energy and Environment, Cape Breton University, Sydney, Cape Breton, NS B1P 6L2, Canada;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 27 June 2020; Accepted: 15 July 2020; Published: 19 July 2020 Abstract: Seaweeds comprise ca. 12,000 species. Global annual harvest is ca. 30.13 million metric tonnes, (valued ca. $11.7 billion USD in 2016) for various commercial applications. The growing scope of seaweed-based applications in food, agricultural fertilizers, animal feed additives, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and personal care is expected to boost market demand. Agriculture and animal feed applications held the second largest seaweed market share in 2017, and the combined market is anticipated to reach much higher values by 2024 due to the impacts of current research and development targeting enhanced animal health and productivity. In general, seaweeds have been utilized in animal feed as a rich source of carbohydrates, protein, minerals, vitamins and dietary fibers with relatively well-balanced amino acid profiles and a unique blend of bioactive compounds.