Marine Life, Including Fish, Seaweed, and Algae, Represents a Unique and Growing Global Resource for the Production of Nutraceuticals and Functional Food Ingredients
Marine life, including fish, seaweed, and algae, represents a unique and growing global resource for the production of nutraceuticals and functional food ingredients. Photo copyright © iStockphoto.com/Tammy616 BY CHONG M. LEE, COLIN J. BARROW, SE-KWON KIM, KAZUO MIYASHITA, and FEREIDOON SHAHIDI An expanding body of scientific research indicates that the marine environment is a unique resource of functional food ingredients with health-promoting properties. esearchers may one day find in the ocean including cardiovascular disease risk reduction, immune “ answers to questions that will help to real- function improvement, brain health, and rheumatoid arthri- ize dreams of lengthening life and memory, of tis inflammation reduction. The oils are currently produced Rretarding aging, and of cures for a variety of ill- from fish, algae, krill, seal, and recently from squid. nesses,” stated Jacques Cousteau, who is considered Fish oil with omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic a pioneer of ocean exploration (Cousteau, 1975). acid, EPA, and docosahexaenoic acid, DHA) experienced Much attention has been paid to exploration of poten- a sales increase of 35–40% in 2005–2006 (Hjaltason, tial nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals derived from the 2007). The combined sale of consumer products forti- ocean. While the majority of nutraceutical products in fied with omega-3 fatty acids is estimated to be $19 billion the marketplace are of botanical origin, marine-based globally, according to the Global Organization for EPA and nutraceuticals are gaining attention due to their unique fea- DHA Omega-3 (GOED Omega-3) (Moloughney, 2011). tures, which are not found in terrestrial-based resources. Fish oil is produced from various sources, including A growing body of research indicates the potential for anchovy, menhaden, herring, mackerel, salmon, and cod the marine environment as a unique source of functional liver, and marketed in various forms, most commonly as food ingredients.
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