Archive for March, 2011

Seafood Byproduct Co-op opens in Alabama

Posted On: March 31, 2011

Cutting the ribbon to the new Gulf Coast Agricultural and Seafood Co-Op center means cutting ties with an old habit. A habit that is costly and can be harmful to the environment. It has to do with a seafood by-product called hulls.

Each year, 5,800 tons of shrimp and crab waste are left over after processing. Seafood experts say it costs around $70,000 a month to have the waste hauled off to a landfill.

This is where the center will come into play. Local processors can bring the waste to the center for a less expensive cost. Officials say their goal is remove the cost all together and turn the waste into a profit. Although the end product has not been determined yet, hulls can be used in the manufacturing of chitin.

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From Issue 13 • Categories: Tags: Aquapreneur, biomaterials, chitin, chitosan, functional ingredients, seafood byproducts • No Comments

Bluewave Marine Ingredients’ fish peptide products now being distributed in Thailand

Posted On: March 31, 2011

LinkAsia Partners, the commercial partner for Bluewave Marine Ingredients has appointed Protech Animal Health as distributor for PerfectDigest products in Thailand.Within the agreement, Protech will distribute and market liquid dispersible fish peptide concentrate and spray dried fish peptide isolate under the PerfectDigest brand. 

Plans are underway to utilize PerfectDigest in varied applications including swine, poultry, aquaculture and pet food.

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From Issue 13 • Categories: Tags: biofuel, Bluewave Marine Ingredients, fish peptide, fish protein, fish protein isolate, functional ingredients, marine ingredients, PerfectDigest, seafood byproducts • No Comments

India: Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute launches green mussel extract product as alternative to anti-inflammatory drugs

Posted On: March 31, 2011

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute has come out with CadalminTM Gme, a green extract from mussels, that is an alternative to anti-inflammatory drugs that may have undesirable side-effects.

The formulation has already got a patent and the institute has begun scouting for knowledge partners to transfer technology so that commercial manufacture can start at the earliest, Syda G. Rao, director of the institute, says. “A group of scientists had been researching on the project for the last three years, part of the institute’s philosophy to look at nutrition, genetics and bio-technology and filling knowledge gaps,” he says.

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From Issue 13 • Categories: Tags: Aquapreneur, functional ingredients, green mussel extract, marine biotechnology, marine ingredients, nutraceutical • No Comments

BioReal doubles AstaREAL astaxanthin production capacity

Posted On: March 31, 2011

 

Fuji Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. has announced it will double the production capacity for astaxanthin at its wholly owned subsidiary, BioReal AB in Gustavsberg, Sweden.

While specific numbers would not be divulged, Dr Ake Lignell, general manager of BioReal, told NutraIngredients that the expansion represented a ‘doubling’ in production of its AstaREAL branded ingredient.

The company announced the consolidation of all its astaxanthin production at its Swedish base in January, noting that the Swedish facility offered “better product uniformity, operational efficiency and ease of expansion”.

Indeed, the surviving technology available in Sweden is modular, making any potential expansion “rapid”, said the company. Fuji/BioReal sources its AstaREAL-branded astaxanthin from the algae form, Haematococcus pluvialis.

The expansion comes in response to a global increase in demand for astaxanthin, with Asia leading the way.

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From Issue 13 • Categories: Tags: algae, Aquapreneur, AstaREAL, astaxanthin, biomaterials, commercialize • No Comments

BioMar-Innovation Consortium signs partnership with CBB (Biotechnology Center in Bretagne, France)

Posted On: March 31, 2011

BioMar-Innovation Consortium, an initiative of the Centre québécois de valorisation Biotechnology (CQVB) and Centre for Marine Biotechnology Research (MBRC) is pleased to announce a partnership with CBB (Biotechnology Center in Bretagne) .

Marine Biotechnology represents a significant growth potential on both sides of the Atlantic. The two organizations will promote interaction and networking between businesses in Quebec and France to allow the transfer and technological and business partnership.  The partnership will help develop economic and technological companies in the biotechnology sector and recovery of marine aquatic biomass, both in Quebec and France.

Negotiated as part of the 2nd Symposium Franco-Quebecois competitive clusters and niches of excellence, the agreement will take effect from 1 April 2011.

Launched in 2009 by CQVB and the MBRC, BioMar-Innovation Consortium is intended to stimulate  development of new products or processes in the field of marine biotechnology, within companies in Quebec to promote technology transfer and exploitation of marine biomass.

Supported financially by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ) and the Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export (MDEIE), which supports this initiative through ACCORD project, the Consortium BioMar-Innovation has held six meetings and networking technology, including 30% of participants were manufacturers. In addition, 13 publications were disseminated to stakeholders and the Quebec industrial area to facilitate the sharing and distribution of information technology and strategy between them. The contents of technology meetings and publications are available at CQVB.

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From Issue 13 • Categories: Tags: Aquapreneur, BioMar-Innovation Consortium, CBB, CQVB, marine biotech cluster, marine biotechnology, marine ingredients, marine natural product, nutraceutical, seafood byproducts • No Comments

Eskimo study supports omega-3 for heart health

Posted On: March 28, 2011

High intakes of omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of obesity-related chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, according to new findings from a study with Alaskan Eskimos.

Yup’ik Eskimos, the most famous indigenous people of the US’ 49th State, have similar obesity rates to the lower 48 states, but the incidence of type-2 diabetes is only 3.3 percent, compared with 7.7 percent nationally.

According to researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, this apparent reduction in diabetes risk is linked to the observation that the Eskimos’ average consumption of omega-3s from fish is 20 times more than people in the lower 48 states.

The new study, published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, echoes findings from the first studies in this area from 40 years ago, carried out by Dr Jørn Dyerberg and his Danish colleagues amongst the Inuit of Greenland. The Danish scientists sought to understand how the Greenland Eskimos, or Inuit, could eat a high fat diet and still have one of the lowest death rates from cardiovascular disease on the planet.

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From Issue 13 • Categories: Tags: Aquapreneur, cardiovascular disease, DHA, EPA, fish oil, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, functional ingredients, marine biotechnology, marine ingredients, omega 3, University of Alaska-Fairbanks • No Comments

Proposed full-scale chitin/chitosan production facility in Newfoundland, Canada has vaulted significant hurdle

Posted On: March 25, 2011

A proposal  to construct a full-scale chitin/chitosan production facility adjacent to its sprawling crab and shrimp processing plant in Bay de Verde has vaulted a significant hurdle. But the same proposal that was so vociferously opposed in Old Perlican – just 12 kilometres away – several years ago also has its share of critics in Bay de Verde.

The seven-member Bay de Verde municipal council voted 4-3 to grant approval-in-principle to the project at a March 3 council meeting, with Mayor Gerard Murphy casting the deciding vote in favour of the application.

Also supporting the application were deputy mayor Gordon Coish and councillors Gerard Broderick and Carrie Potter.

Mayor Murphy chaired the meeting, and said there were questions about air emissions, the discharge of effluent into the marine ecosystem, and the transport and use of chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and potassium hydroxide, two important chemicals in the chitin production process.

There were also concerns expressed about some ongoing issues, including odour problems and the ongoing dumping of shell waste at a local site.

Murphy was initially apprehensive about the project, but after receiving more information, has warmed up to the idea.

“I greet this application with cautious optimism,” he said. “If the company is willing to come in and make a multi-million-dollar investment into a technology that is new in the province … that investment, given the volatility of the fishing industry, can only lead to an extended longevity of the facility in the community.”

“That was one of the biggest considerations that I had to think about,” he added.

But the roughly $5 million project is still far from receiving the green light, with environmental approvals still to come, and some community leaders still not convinced the project is in the best interest of the town.

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From Issue 13 • Categories: Tags: Aquapreneur, biomaterials, biopolymer, bioprocessing, chitin, chitosan, functional ingredients, marine biopolymer, marine ingredients, seafood byproducts • No Comments

Seafood byproduct research in Alaska in possible jeopardy

Posted On: March 25, 2011

Seafood byproduct research at the Fisheries Industrial Technology Center (FITC) on Kodiak’s Near Island could be in trouble if President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year comes to fruition.

The proposal would eliminate funding for the federal agricultural research station in Alaska, and calls for a cut of $42 million to the Agriculture Research Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

If the cuts go through, it would result in a loss of almost $1 million dollars to the FITC — a bad proposition for the seafood waste research.

“The research that it funds stops,” FITC interim director Paula Cullenberg said. “It’s the primary source of funding for seafood byproduct research in the state and one of the few in the country. I think it would be a bad thing for Alaska.”

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From Issue 13 • Categories: Tags: Alaska, Aquapreneur, biomaterials, bioprocessing, chitosan, fish oil, fish protein, Fisheries Industrial Technology Center, functional ingredients, marine ingredients, nutraceutical, omega 3, seafood byproducts, sustainable • No Comments

MDPI announces publication of new Marine Drugs issue: Volume 9, Issue 3

Posted On: March 25, 2011

MDPI announces publication of the following issue:

Mar. Drugs, Volume 9, Issue 3 (March 2011), Pages 294-477 http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/

Table of Contents:

Article: Isolation of a New Natural Product and Cytotoxic and Antimicrobial Activities of Extracts from Fungi of Indonesian Marine Habitats Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(3), 294-306; doi:10.3390/md9030294

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/294

 

Article: Antinociceptive and Anti-Inflammatory Activity from Algae of the Genus Caulerpa Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(3), 307-318; doi:10.3390/md9030307

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/307

 

Review: Marine Carotenoids: Biological Functions and Commercial Applications Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(3), 319-333; doi:10.3390/md9030319

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/319

 

Article: Cytotoxic and Antimicrobial Activity of Pseudopterosins and seco-Pseudopterosins Isolated from the Octocoral Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae of San AndrC)s and Providencia Islands (Southwest Caribbean Sea) Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(3), 334-344; doi:10.3390/md9030334

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/334

 

Article: Dynamics of Dissolved and Particulate Polyunsaturated Aldehydes in Mesocosms Inoculated with Different Densities of the Diatom Skeletonema marinoi Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(3), 345-358; doi:10.3390/md9030345

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/345

 

Article: Lobophorin C and D, New Kijanimicin Derivatives from a Marine Sponge-Associated Actinomycetal Strain AZS17 Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(3), 359-368; doi:10.3390/md9030359

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/359

 

Article: Chemical Screening Method for the Rapid Identification of Microbial Sources of Marine Invertebrate-Associated Metabolites Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(3), 369-381; doi:10.3390/md9030369

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/369

 

Article: An Acetylenic Alkaloid from the Calcareous Sponge Leucetta sp.

Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(3), 382-386; doi:10.3390/md9030382

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/382

 

Review: Mycosporine-Like Amino Acids: Relevant Secondary Metabolites. Chemical and Ecological Aspects Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(3), 387-446; doi:10.3390/md9030387

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/387

 

Review: Astaxanthin: A Potential Therapeutic Agent in Cardiovascular Disease Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(3), 447-465; doi:10.3390/md9030447

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/447

 

Article: Preparation of Calibration Standards of N1-H Paralytic Shellfish Toxin Analogues by Large-Scale Culture of Cyanobacterium Anabaena circinalis (TA04) Mar. Drugs 2011, 9(3), 466-477; doi:10.3390/md9030466

http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/9/3/466

 

From Issue 13 • Categories: Tags: algae, Aquapreneur, astaxanthin, functional ingredients, marine bioprospecting, marine biotechnology, Marine Carotenoids, marine ingredients, marine natural product, marine sponge, MDPI, Paralytic Shellfish Toxin, pharmaceutical, pseudopterosins • No Comments

National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) to set up seafront research facility in Nellore, India

Posted On: March 25, 2011

The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is planning to build a large seafront facility in Nellore district of  Andhra Pradesh. The facility on the seacoast would work on various applications and technologies aimed at utilising ocean resources.

The institute, which has already identified a couple of locations in association with state government agencies, proposes to set up a cluster of laboratories and other infrastructure in an area of 200 acres. The proposed facility, which will be one-of-its-kind in the country, would be a major expansion of its current activities in the area of ocean technology applications, including deep sea technology and ocean mining.

The institute is now working on low temperature thermal desalination, deep sea technologies, remotely operable vehicles and deep sea submersibles, ocean observation systems and ocean acoustics, among others. The facility will be designed to undertake all the major programs, including submersibles and gas hydrates, marine sensors and electronics, energy, coastal engineering research and marine biotechnology, which require actual working in sea conditions. More info

 

From Issue 13 • Categories: Tags: Aquapreneur, India, marine bioprospecting, marine biotechnology, National Institute of Ocean Technology • No Comments

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