An important, 18 page scientific review was published in the international peer-reviewed journal Phycologia in November, 2015.[1] The authors, two Canadians and a Danish scientist, are widely published in marine biology, phycology (seaweed botany) and molecular biophysics. The Dane, Professor Ole Mouritsen, is the author ofSeaweeds: Edible, Available & Sustainable, one of the best books on seaw...

To test the potential in vivo antitumor effect of dietary seaweed, we induced mammary tumors in female Sprague-Dawley rats with the carcinogen 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene. Twenty-one-day-old rats (n = 108) were divided into two groups. Controls were fed a standard semipurified diet, and experimental rats received the control diet with 5% Laminaria, a brown seaweed, replacing 5% alphacel . At...

Whether the non-native seaweed Sargassum muticum can displace or impact native eelgrass Zostera marina has been debated in the literature, based on differing substrate requirements of the 2 species. Field observations in Bamfield, British Columbia, Canada, revealed that the non-native S. muticum successfully inhabits an eelgrass bed through colonizing siphons of the native clam Tresus capax. Nu...

Japanese iodine intake from edible seaweeds is amongst the highest in the world. Predicting the type and amount of seaweed the Japanese consume is difficult due to day-to-day meal variation and dietary differences between generations and regions. In addition, iodine content varies considerably between seaweed species, with cooking and/or processing having an influence on iodine content. Due to ...

There is no confusion regarding the safety of carrageenan. Carrageenan is a safe and natural fiber extracted from seaweed [1]. It is an indigestible polysaccharide that is commonly used in foods as a natural thickening, gelling, and stabilizing agent. It is used as a gelling agent in our vegetarian softgels and On Guard Toothpaste. Carrageenan-containing softgel capsules are the only stable veg...

Space competition between corals and seaweeds is an important ecological process underlying coral-reef dynamics. Processes promoting seaweed growth and survival, such as herbivore overfishing and eutrophication, can lead to local reef degradation. Here, we present the case that increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO(2) may be an additional process driving a shift from corals to seaweeds on...

Seaweeds are rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fibres, proteins, polysaccharides and various functional polyphenols. Many researchers have focused on brown algae as a potential source of bioactive materials in the past few decades. Ecklonia cava is a brown seaweed that is abundant in the subtidal regions of Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea. This seaweed attracted extensive interest due to...

A bacterial strain, Myt-1, was isolated in Toyama Bay in Toyama Prefecture, Japan. Myt-1 was capable of reducing the thalli of various seaweed species to single cell detritus particles. A 16S rDNA homology search revealed that the closest relative of Myt-1 was Saccharophagus degradans 2-40 (CP000282; 100% similarity), which was first isolated in Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, USA. The Myt-1 strain...

S eaweeds or marine algae have long made up a key part of the Asian diet and are also consumed in other parts of the world, such as in Ireland and Wales. Seaweed has often been used as a food for people who are sick and has been credited with health-giving properties.1 Today, seaweed supplements for human use are usually considered to be sources of iodine or minerals but may offer other therape...

Recently, prophylactic use of antibiotics in livestock have been banned by European Community with the consequence of a growing research towards new, safe and natural ingredients, like plant extract, that would have antimicrobial properties [1]. In this context, seaweed extracts have assumed great importance in animal nutritionfor the high content in bioactive molecules [2]. Seaweed or marine m...