Algae of commercial uses. It is a good medium on which to grow bacteria and fungi, as most microorganisms cannot digest agar. Alginic acid, or alginate, is extracted from brown algae. Its uses range from gelling agents in food, to medical dressings. Alginic acid also has been used in the field of biotechnology as a biocompatible medium for cell encapsulation and cell immobilization. Molecular cuisine is also a user of the substance for its gelling properties, by which it becomes a delivery vehicle for flavours. Between 100,000 and 170,000 wet tons of "Macrocystis" are harvested annually in New Mexico for alginate
Gasteroid fungi described by Linnaeus in his original "Species Plantarum" of 1753, but the first critical treatment of the group was by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in his "Synopsis methodica fungorum" of 1801. Until 1981, this book was the starting point for the naming of Gasteromycetes under the "International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants". Although the starting point was subsequently put back to 1753, names of gasteroid fungi used in Persoon's book are still sanctioned and cannot be replaced by earlier names. Elias Magnus Fries introduced the name Gasteromycetes for a class of fungi in his "Systema Mycologicum" of 1821,