Aquapreneur » seaweed

Solazyme Delivers 100% Algal-Derived Renewable Jet Fuel to U.S. Navy

Admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:30:12 +0000

Solazyme, Inc. is helping the U.S. military move closer to powering its planes, ships, tanks and trucks on renewable fuel and has delivered of 1,500 gallons of 100% algae-based jet fuel for the U.S. Navy’s testing and certification program. The U.S. Navy has previously announced the objective to operate at least 50% of its fleet on clean, renewable fuel by 2020, and the delivery fulfills a contract awarded to Solazyme by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in September 2009.

Solazyme, a renewable oil and green bioproducts company and leader in algal biotechnology, manufactured the world’s first 100% algal-based jet fuel through its proprietary fermentation process in collaboration with renewable jet fuel processing technology from Honeywell’s UOP. Solazyme’s renewable Solajet(TM)HRJ-5 is designed to meet all of the requirements for Naval renewable aviation fuel. In preliminary tests, it also meets the fuel requirements of the U.S. Air Force and meets the standards for commercial jet fuel.

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Algal Biomass Summit Releases Meeting Agenda

Admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:10:40 +0000

The 2010 Algae Biomass Summit recently released the event’s newly-expanded agenda featuring more than 70 speakers and seven new sessions. The 4th annual event will be held September 28-30 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix, Arizona.

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“Jelloware” Drinking Cups from Seaweed Extract

Admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:06:31 +0000

Design company The Way We See The World has developed “Jelloware” drinking cups made from agar agar, a seaweed extract.

From their website: ”Jelloware re-imagines the concept of drinking, and imparts a new experience in the way it feels, tastes, smells, moves, and is even disposed of. The cups are made entirely out of agar agar and cast in different flavors, such as lemon-basil, ginger-mint, or rosemary-beet, each specifically designed to compliment a corresponding drink. Jelloware is meant to be thrown into the grass after it is used, as agar agar is a seaweed extract and actually nurtures the growth of plants.”

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NutritionalFinds to Sell Maritech’s Seaweed Extract Joint Blend in North America

Admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:46:23 +0000

NutritionalFinds.com, a division of Natural Discoveries LLC, announced that they have been granted the exclusive rights to represent Maritech^® Joint Blend bioactive for nutraceutical applications in North America. Maritech^® Joint blend is a proprietary, certified organic combination of 3 unique fucoidans extracted from seaweed which has been clinically proven safe and effective for reducing the symptoms of osteoarthritis. NutritionalFinds will promote Maritech^® as a trademarked raw material for joint health in the U.S. and Canadian markets.

Recent human clinical research (Biologics: Targets & Therapy 2010:4 33-44) conducted at Southern Cross University NatMed Research Centre demonstrated that the natural seaweed extract can reduce osteoarthritis symptoms in some patients by up to 52%. Fucoidans are bioactive polysaccharides thought to be responsible for many of the health benefits attributed to brown seaweeds such as wakame.

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Research Shows Chemicals from Seaweed Can Kill Coral

Admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:23:28 +0000

Field studies have shown for the first time that several common species of seaweeds in both the Pacific and Caribbean Oceans can kill corals upon contact using chemical means.

While competition between seaweed and coral is just one of many factors affecting the decline of coral reefs worldwide, this chemical threat may provide a serious setback to efforts aimed at repopulating damaged reefs. Seaweeds are normally kept in check by herbivorous fish, but in many areas overfishing has reduced the populations of these plant-consumers, allowing seaweeds to overpopulate coral reefs.

A study documenting the chemical effects of seaweeds on corals was scheduled to be published May 10, 2010 in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Teasely Endowments at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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Australian Scientists In Swine Flu Breakthrough with Seaweed

Admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:12:43 +0000

In a breakthrough that offers new hope for the containment of influenza outbreaks, an Australian biotechnology company has isolated a natural extract from seaweed which has been shown to inhibit the H1N1 virus.

The extract – known as Maritech® 926 – is a fucoidan compound derived from the Undaria pinnatifida species of seaweed. In vitro tests performed under contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US, have shown that Maritech® 926 can inhibit the H1N1 influenza virus at extremely low concentrations.

Developed by biotechnology company Marinova Pty Ltd, Maritech® 926 is a natural polysaccharide which has immediate market potential in nutritional supplements, hand washes and nasal delivery products which target the spread and prevention of viral conditions. Scope also exists for the compound to be included in pharmaceutical and medical device applications. As a result of these findings, Marinova has filed for patent protection over the application of Maritech® 926 and other fucoidan extracts in a range of anti-viral applications.

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Chef in UK helps with new hospital food research using seaweed

Admin — Sun, 02 May 2010 20:00:07 +0000

According to Times Online, Heston Blumenthal has tempted the nation’s palate with bacon-and-egg ice cream and snail porridge. Now the Michelin-starred chef is hoping to excite the appetites of older people in hospital by feeding them food flavored with seaweed.

Blumenthal has allowed researchers from the University of Reading into the laboratory kitchen of his Fat Duck restaurant to show them the use of Japanese kombu seaweed to add flavor to stocks, sauces and meat dishes.

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Blue Moon Marine Botanicals introduces red algae-based AlgalAid, external analgesic for treatment of cold sores and fever blisters.

Admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:47:54 +0000

Blue Moon Marine Botanicals recently introduced AlgalAid, an FDA-monograph compliant external analgesic for the treatment of cold sores and fever blisters. Each batch contains whole-plant extracts of Alaskan marine red algae whose anti-viral efficacy is measured and incorporated in AlgalAid to provide 10 times the concentration needed to inhibit 90 percent of a reference herpes simplex (HSV)1 virus in-vitro.

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Blue Moon

Algae as a source for electricity

Admin — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:06:21 +0000

In an electrifying first, Stanford scientists have plugged into algae cells and harnessed a tiny electrical current. They found it at the very source of energy production – photosynthesis, a plant’s method of converting sunlight to chemical energy. It may be a first step toward generating high-efficiency bioelectricity that doesn’t give off carbon dioxide as a byproduct, the researchers say.

“We believe we are the first to extract electrons out of living plant cells,” said WonHyoung Ryu, the lead author of the paper published in the March issue of Nano Letters. Ryu conducted the experiments while he was a research associate for mechanical engineering Professor Fritz Prinz.

The Stanford research team developed a unique, ultra-sharp nanoelectrode made of gold, specially designed for probing inside cells. They gently pushed it through the algal cell membranes, which sealed around it, and the cell stayed alive. From the photosynthesizing cells, the electrode collected electrons that had been energized by light and the researchers generated a tiny electrical current.

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Seaweed to Tackle Rising Tide of Obesity

Admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:21:37 +0000

Seaweed could hold the key to tackling obesity after it was found it reduces fat uptake by more than 75 per cent, new research has shown. Now the team at Newcastle University are adding seaweed fibre to bread to see if they can develop foods that help you lose weight while you eat them.

A team of scientists led by Dr Iain Brownlee and Prof Jeff Pearson have found that dietary fibre in one of the world’s largest commercially-used seaweed could reduce the amount of fat absorbed by the body by around 75 per cent.

The Newcastle University team found that Alginate a natural fibre found in sea kelp stops the body from absorbing fat better than most anti-obesity treatments currently available over the counter.

Using an artificial gut, they tested the effectiveness of more than 60 different natural fibres by measuring the amount of fat that was digested and absorbed with each treatment.

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