Marine ingredients on trend in nutraceuticals
Maritech® fucoidan has featured in a recent edition of Nutritional Outlook magazine which examines the rise in popularity of marine ingredients in the nutraceutical industry. The exposé explores why science-based algae ingredients are so highly prized in today’s human health market.
Marinova’s Managing Director, Paul Garrott, attributes the surge in interest to the growing number of discerning consumers who are demanding products that are not only natural and environmentally sustainable but also backed by credible clinical evidence.
“Quality, algae-derived ingredients – like Maritech® fucoidan – satisfy these consumer demands on all fronts,” he explained.
So what makes algae ingredients so relevant to human health? Over thousands of years, algae have adapted and evolved in order to protect and sustain themselves in harsh and variable aquatic conditions. These extreme marine environments have necessitated the evolution of unique biosynthetic processes that give algae an abundance of nutrients and specialised bioactive compounds. Fucoidan, for example, is part of a complex natural defence mechanism for macroalgae, providing protection from viruses and bacteria in the water.
With the advancement of new technology, complex algal derivatives like fucoidan can now be isolated and extracted, giving rise to novel bioactive ingredients for nutritional and human health applications.
“While algae, particularly seaweeds, have a long history of use in Asian cultures for helping to address everything from inflammation and immunity through to gut health and oncology, the ability to extract and isolate specific fractions of algae has given these ingredients great use worldwide,” says Chief Scientist, Dr Helen Fitton.
The latest clinical research supporting Maritech® fucoidan as a potential immunomodulatory agent was a focus in the feature article by Nutritional Outlook.