Surplus Jellyfish Seen as Additive Source

In recent years populations of jellyfish have been exploding, which may present the food and cosmetics industries with interesting new additives.Writing in the Journal of Natural Products, researchers from the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Saitama, and Shimva Chemical Industries in Kyoto, describe a process for extracting high yields of a protein substance called mucin that could be used as a starting material for production of designer mucins with multiple uses. The researchers investigated the extraction from five species of jellyfish of a novel glycoprotein, a member of the mucin family. The yields, ranging from one to three per cent of dry weight, and 0.02 to 0.1 per cent of wet weight, were classified as high. The extracted polymeric substance from all of the species formed a gel in aqueous solution. The researchers have labeled this substance, which is common in jellyfish and similar to the human mucin MUC5AC, “qniumucin” and have suggested the utilization of this compound as a new marine resource, based on the present commercial use of gastric mucin from porcine stomachs and bovine submaxillary glands, towards and potential for use in food and cosmetics.

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