Many years ago, marine nutraceuticals were only available from sources that were either farmed close to the coast or on the open seas. In closed systems above the sun or dimly lit spaces, several marine nutraceuticals are grown nowadays.
Of all, the only thing that will ultimately result in significant sales from advancements in marine health is strong customer demand. Today, though, let’s examine some of the most recent products in greater detail to understand how they are created, consumed, and utilized.
Yeast-derived astaxanthin
Strong antioxidant astaxanthin is often obtained from algae. It can provide a distinctive red hue to aquatic animals like salmon and crabs. Over the years, astaxanthin has served as an inspiration for numerous health and sports supplements. Astaxanthin, nevertheless, is not just found in algae. A business is now commercializing astaxanthin, which is also present in a unique yeast called Phaffia rhodozyma.
One of the main benefits of this yeast-derived astaxanthin over astaxanthin derived from seaweed is that it lacks both color and odor. Due to their fishy taste or odor, numerous astaxanthins generated from algae have made it difficult to develop new products. Product creators must employ tastes or perfumes and create them in the shape of soft capsules to cover up the natural taste of astaxanthin. The odorless and colorless yeast astaxanthin, however, now presents fresh possibilities.
Non-green Chlorella
Chlorella vulgaris is a freshwater algae rich in vitamins, minerals, and chlorophyll and has a very strong flavor and smell. New opportunities opened up when scientists from Portugal created two such chlorella species that did not have a strong color, taste, and smell.
The scientists were able to create yellow and white forms of chlorella that are comparatively soft in texture and softer in taste and odor by subjecting cells of wild-type chlorella to UV light and chemical agents. Moreover, the protein concentration is higher than that of wild chlorella. The active progesterone that contained lutein (yellow) and phytoene rose sharply at the same time as the chlorophyll content of these two types of chlorella fell (colorless).
These innovations in the growth of chlorella have been scaled up successfully, and researchers think they might be employed in large amounts in dietary supplements, human diets, and animal raw materials. Because it is not regarded as a genetically modified product, the researchers claimed the random mutation employed to produce these kinds “is a beneficial cell modification tool for food applications.”
Fucoidan
Wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) and Fucus vesiculosus have successfully attracted ingredient processing companies in recent years.
Researchers in Marinova Pty. Ltd. of Cambridge, Australia, and Vesta Nutra of Indianapolis have spent years studying the components of these seaweeds, developing businesses based on their active ingredient, fucoidan. Although this compound can be found in other marine organisms, such as sea cucumbers, seaweeds are the preferred raw material for extracting fucoidan because they regenerate quickly and can be obtained from clean, unpolluted waters.
According to the research, fucoidan has a variety of potential applications, including improving skin health, athletic performance, and immune health. Marinova recently published a review of studies that support the use of fucose in the treatment of lung injuries and viral infections. Several studies have found that 3, fucoidan ingredients may boost the body’s immune response, activate certain immune-system cells, and even inhibit allergic reactions.
Fucose as an immune health ingredient is becoming more popular as the demand for immune health ingredients, particularly plant-based immune health ingredients, rises.