Seaweed: the great fibre provider
Soft drinks and bread fortified with fibrous seaweed extracts could hit UK supermarket shelves next year following collaborations between manufacturers and Newcastle University.
Jeff Pearson, professor of molecular physiology at the university, is in advanced negotiations with a major UK baker and a flavour house working with the drinks industry. Both are keen to fortify their products with alginate, a carbohydrate compound derived from brown seaweed that is known to strengthen mucus, the substance protecting the gut wall.
“Alginates are already used widely by the food industry as gelling agents and in jam fillings, but now [manufacturers] have suddenly clocked on to the fact that they are a great source of fibre, can be added to almost any food, and can also be marketed as low-glycaemic index (GI),” said Pearson.
“They are ideal for bread, as you can significantly increase fibre content without losing moisture. They are also great as fat replacers in burgers and pies and other products where you are trying to form a barrier between the filling and the pastry.”
He added: “Alginates could also be used in skin creams because they appear to have wound cleaning abilities. They could also help tackle minor skin irritations such as shaving rashes or even eczema, although more research is obviously needed before we see commercial applications.”
Seaweed could also have great potential as a weight management ingredient, he said, referring to research recently carried out by Japanese scientists on a brownish pigment found in kelp called fucoxanthin.
A study presented at the American Chemical Society demonstrated that laboratory rats and mice fed on the compound achieved a 5-10% weight reduction, believed to be caused by the stimulation of a protein, UCP1, which causes fat oxidation and converts energy to heat, said Pearson.
This is the first time that a natural food component has been shown to reduce fat by targeting the UCP1 protein, according to Kazuo Miyashita, a chemistry professor at Hokkaido University in Japan who led the Japanese government-funded study. Given that UCP1 is found in white adipose tissue, a fat concentrated in the abdominal area, any ingredient that can activate it in this way has potentially very exciting applications, said Miyashita.
Found in several different types of brown seaweed, including a type of kelp used in traditional Japanese miso soup, fucoxanthin also appeared to stimulate the production of the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which is proven to reduce LDL or 'bad cholesterol' - a major contributor to obesity and heart disease.
Unlike fish oil, however, fucoxanthin doesn't have an unpleasant smell, said Miyashita. Human studies were now on the cards, he added, although it is likely to be several years before the ingredient is used in supplements or foods.
