Seaweed vitamins

Seaweeds are a good source of some water- (Bj, B2, B,2, C) and fat-soluble (P-carotene with vitamin A activity, vitamin E) vitamins. To ensure that the adequate intake of all vitamins is received in the diet, people (especially peopleon specialdiet, strict vegetarians, and vegans) can consume foods enriched with vitamins, for example, in the form of functional foods with vitamins as nutraceuticals, extracted from natural sources such as seaweeds. Seaweed vitamins are important not only due to their biochemical functions and antioxidant activity but also due to other health benefits such as decreasing of blood pressure (vitamin C), prevention of cardiovascular diseases (P-carotene), or reducing the risk of cancer (vitamins E and C, carotenoids). 

The following summary is concerned with the most abimdant seaweed vitamins which can sufficiently contribute to daily vitamin requirements, such as water-soluble vitamins Bi, B2, B12, and C and fat-soluble provitamins A (p-carotene) and E. Because some results are given for fresh samples, some for dry ones, there is quite disputable to compare the data presented thereby. 

Therefore, research and following usage of seaweed vitamins as nutraceuticals or ingredients for fimctional food show prospective possibilities for developing food industry also for consumers who can benefit from added health properties of foods. 

Discoverer of glutamic acid in seaweeds. Production of a seasoning of Aji-no-Moto . Introduction oV Umamr into the classification of tastes Discoverer of Orizanin (vitamin B ). 

Drug/Food interactions Vitamin K-rich vegetables may decrease the anticoagulant effects of warfarin by interfering with absorption. Minimize consumption of vitamin K-rich foods (eg, spinach, seaweed, broccoli, turnip greens) or nutritional supplements. Mango has been shown to increase warfarin s effect. 

Vitamin B12 is synthesized only by bacteria and possibly some algae. There are no plant sources of the vitamin, and no plant enzymes are known to require vitamin B12 as a coenzyme. A number of reports have suggested that vitamin Bi2 occurs in some algae, but this maybe the result of bacterial contamination of the water in which they were grown. Nori, made from the edible seaweed Porphyra tenera, has been reported to contain biologically active cobalamin when it is fresh but, on drying, there is a considerable loss of the vitamin as a result of the formation of inactive corrinoids (Yamada et al., 1999). 

Antioxidants play an important role in preventing cancer, and a diet rich in foods that contain antioxidants will reduce the risk of cancer and other degenerative diseases. Antioxidants that are especially beneficial to prostate health include the mineral zinc, found in pumpkin seeds, fish, seaweeds, mushrooms, nuts, and brewer s yeast. An essential but often lacking nutrient, zinc is found in high concentration in prostatic tissue. Zinc reduces prolactin levels in the blood, thereby helping inhibit the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase, and is also essential for the conversion of carotenes into Vitamin A in the body. 

Seaweeds are also rich sources of calcium which provides a greater potential to be used in fimctional food developments attributed to their higher calcium concentration and easy assimilation (in the form of calcium carbonate) in to the body compared to calcium in cow s milk (in the form of calcium phosphate). Further, seaweeds provide good sources of vitamins such as vitamin E, A, and B12 and have a greater potential to be exploited in functional food categories in demand (Berg et ah, 1991). 

Seaweed contains several vitamins both water soluble such as B and C and lipid soluble such as A and E at varying levels. Brown seaweed, U. pinnatifida, contained 14.5 mg/100 g of vitamin E and that was much higher than the vitamin E content (10 mg/100 g) in peanut (Anon)anous, 2004). This high vitamin E content helps to protect PUFA in seaweed and... 

Burtin (2003) reported that green seaweeds contain low amoimt of vitamin E (Burtin, 2003). In contrast, Ortiz et al. (2006) demonstrated that Ulva lactuca showed high level of vitamin E. Daily ingestion of 109.5 g/day of... 

Watanabe, F., Takenaka, S., Katsura, H., Masumder, S., Abe, K., Tamura, Y., and Ncikanos, Y. (1999). Dried green and purple lavers (Nori) contain substantial amounts of biologiccJly active vitamin B12 but less of dietary iodine relative to other edible seaweeds. J. Agric. Food Chem. 47, 2341-2343. 

Brown and red seaweeds possess a good nutritional value and can be an alternative source of proteins, minerals, and vitamins (Jimenez-Escrig and Cambrodon, 1999 Plaza et ah, 2008 Ruperez and Saura-Calixto, 2001). Oil content is generally low but contains a great amount of essential fatty acids (Gomez-Ordonez et al., 2010 Ruperez and Saura-Calixto, 2001 Sanchez-Machado et al., 2004). 

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