Fucoidan for functional foods & beverages
Marinova is experiencing rising global demand for fucoidan in the functional food and beverage category.
Fucoidans are complex polysaccharides that occur naturally in brown seaweeds. To date, more than 4,000 scientific papers have been published attesting to their wide range of bioactivities. As a result of this research, fucoidan extracts are widely used in dietary supplements, medical devices, skincare applications, and increasingly – functional foods and beverages.
“Fucoidans are efficacious ingredients prized for their gut and digestive health, immune support and healthy ageing properties,” said Marinova’s Technical Services Manager, Mr David Gesch. “While high quality fucoidans have established themselves as ingredients of choice for premium dietary supplements, Marinova is currently experiencing record interest from functional food and beverage formulators. The company has seen a 33% increase in customers in this category in the past year alone.”
“High quality fucoidan extracts are efficacious, certified organic, and supported by a sustainable and transparent supply chain,” explained Mr Gesch. “In addition to these advantages, they are versatile, easy to formulate and offer stability across a wide range of applications including chewables, gels and powder blends. Fucoidans are supplied as dry powders, are highly water soluble, and have good flowability. We are seeing rising uptake for both ready-to drink and ready-to mix formulations.”
In addition to its branded range of high purity fucoidans sold under the name Maritech®, Marinova produces a seaweed extract specifically for functional foods and beverages. “Fucorich® is a certified organic, natural ingredient featuring fucoidan in combination with marine mannitol,” said Mr Gesch. “Sourced from wild Undaria pinnatifida seaweed, Fucorich® is a unique, cost-effective fucoidan extract suitable for a wide range of food and beverage applications.” Fucoidans manufactured by Marinova have FDA-notified GRAS and EU Novel Foods authorisation.
Mr Gesch finished, “The attainment of EU organic certification and scientific validation in the prebiotic category is also driving demand for the company’s fucoidan extracts. Marinova has recently tripled the production capacity of its state-of-the-art fucoidan extraction facility in Australia, providing assurance to customers that global supply of high quality fucoidan is efficient, consistent and reliable.”