A decade of change in the seaweed hydrocolloids industry

Abstract

Seaweed hydrocolloid markets continue to grow, but instead of the 3-5% achieved in the 1980s and 1990s, the growth rate has fallen to 1-3% per year. This growth has been largely driven by emerging markets in China, Eastern Europe, Brazil, etc. Sales of agar, alginates and carrageenans in the US and Europe are holding up reasonably well in spite of the recession. However, price increases to offset costs in 2008 and 2009 have begun to have a dampening effect on sales, especially in markets where substitution or extension with less expensive ingredients is possible. These higher prices have been driven by higher energy, chemicals and seaweed costs. The higher seaweed costs reflect seaweed shortages, particularly for carrageenan-bearing seaweeds. The Philippines and Indonesia are the dominant producers of the farmed Kappaphycus and Eucheuma species upon which the carrageenan industry depends and both countries are experiencing factors limiting seaweed production. Similar tightening of seaweed supplies are beginning to show up in brown seaweeds used for extracting alginates, and in the red seaweeds for extracting agar. The structure of the industry is also undergoing change. Producers in China are getting stronger, and while they have not yet developed the marketing skills to compete effectively in the developed world markets, they have captured much of their home market. China does not produce the red and brown seaweeds needed for higher end food hydrocolloid production. Stocking their factories with raw material has led to the supply problems. Sales growth continues to suffer from few new product development successes in recent years; although some health care applications are showing some promise, i.e., carrageenan gel capsules and alginate micro-beads.

Chemical and Spectral Characterization of The Ozonation Products of κ-Carrageenan

“…Large molecular size of κ-carrageenan have limited applications as it is insoluble in water and it forms viscous solution. Converting the High Molecular Weight Fraction of carrageenan (HMWF) into Low Molecular Weight of carrageenan (LMWF) will construct the bioavailability and enlarge the potential uses of carrageenan in pharmaceutical and biomedical [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Marine Bioactive Fibers: Alginate and Chitosan Fibers-A Critical Review

“…In particular, they have been made into fibers through the wet-spinning process and in line with their marine origin, these fibers are biocompatible and biodegradable, and possess excellent bioactivities that are highly valuable in the development of functional textile products such as medical textiles, hygiene products, cosmetotextiles and those textile materials that are in close contact with the body, such as under wears, bedding materials, etc [2][3][4]. As renewable resources, both alginate and chitosan have abundant supplies in nature [5,6]. The seaweeds used for alginate extraction can come from wild varieties as well as cultivated species, whilst chitosan can be extracted from seafood processing waste of crabs, shrimps, prawns, krills, etc.…”

Clump structure, population structure and non-destructive biomass estimation of the New Zealand carrageenophyte Sarcothalia lanceata (Gigartinaceae, Rhodophyta)

“…The structure of the carrageenan from the tetrasporophytic life stage of S. lanceata is close to the idealised structure of lambdacarrageenan (Falshaw and Furneaux 1998), and has commercial potential as a thickener and stabiliser in food uses. The market for carrageenan-producing seaweeds continues to grow (Bixler and Porse 2011), but opportunities for the commercial use of wild seaweed stocks remain largely unexplored in New Zealand and collection is still managed under a permit system (see Hurd et al 2004).…”