5.8 Commercial Production
115
conditions in the stomach. Such that very little or no part of the active component
gets into the bloodstream. Therefore, to make more use of the benefits of fucoidan
as a bioactive compound, the applications need to go beyond oral administration.
A number of patents exist for use of fucoidans in biomedical applications. One
of such is for use as scaffolds in tissue repair (Le Visage et al. 2015), and another
existing patent covers the formulation and use of a fucoidan-based treatment for
bleeding disorders (Dockal et al. 2014). However, obtaining a patent for a product
only protects the right of the inventor but does not grant the approval to commercial
production.
Impurities significantly affect the bioactivity of fucoidans; therefore, in addition
to the requirement for clinical application, to study the structure and bioactivity of
fucoidan extracts, the crude fucoidan must be purified in order to understand the
true structure and bioactivity of fucoidan in its pure form. Purification methods for
fucoidans such as ion-exchange chromatography (Isnansetyo et al. 2017), gel permeation chromatography and biological affinity purification (Zayed and Ulber 2019),
add significant cost to the production of pure fucoidans. Because of the symbiotic
relationship marine algae have with marine microbes, some of these microbes are
deeply attached to the cell walls of the algae and there usually exist different types
of microbes (Nambisan 1999), such that a broad spectrum sterilization technique is
required to ensure these contaminants do not get to the fucoidan extract.
5.9 Conclusion
Fucoidans are presently commercially available as food supplements. Their bioactive
properties cannot be standardized and validated due to inconsistency in structure and
bioavailability in oral form. The production of brown algae for fucoidan competes
with use of brown algae as food and for production of other products from brown
algae such as alginates. With potential applications of fucoidan as a low-cost treatment for diseases such as colon cancer and type 2 diabetes, these fucose sulfated
polysaccharides remain of significant research and commercial interests.
References
Alboofetileh M, Rezaei M, Tabarsa M, You S, Mariatti F, Cravotto G (2019) Subcritical water
extraction as an efficient technique to isolate biologically-active fucoidans from Nizamuddinia
zanardinii. Int J Biol Macromol 128:244–253
Alghazwi M, Smid S, Karpiniec S, Zhang W (2019) Comparative study on neuroprotective activities
of fucoidans from Fucus vesiculosus and Undaria pinnatifida. Int J Biol Macromol 122:255–264
Alsac JM, Delbosc S, Rouer M, Journe C, Louedec L, Meilhac O, Michel JB (2013) Fucoidan interferes with Porphyromonas gingivalis-induced aneurysm enlargement by decreasing neutrophil
activation. J Vasc Surg 57:796–805
115
conditions in the stomach. Such that very little or no part of the active component
gets into the bloodstream. Therefore, to make more use of the benefits of fucoidan
as a bioactive compound, the applications need to go beyond oral administration.
A number of patents exist for use of fucoidans in biomedical applications. One
of such is for use as scaffolds in tissue repair (Le Visage et al. 2015), and another
existing patent covers the formulation and use of a fucoidan-based treatment for
bleeding disorders (Dockal et al. 2014). However, obtaining a patent for a product
only protects the right of the inventor but does not grant the approval to commercial
production.
Impurities significantly affect the bioactivity of fucoidans; therefore, in addition
to the requirement for clinical application, to study the structure and bioactivity of
fucoidan extracts, the crude fucoidan must be purified in order to understand the
true structure and bioactivity of fucoidan in its pure form. Purification methods for
fucoidans such as ion-exchange chromatography (Isnansetyo et al. 2017), gel permeation chromatography and biological affinity purification (Zayed and Ulber 2019),
add significant cost to the production of pure fucoidans. Because of the symbiotic
relationship marine algae have with marine microbes, some of these microbes are
deeply attached to the cell walls of the algae and there usually exist different types
of microbes (Nambisan 1999), such that a broad spectrum sterilization technique is
required to ensure these contaminants do not get to the fucoidan extract.
5.9 Conclusion
Fucoidans are presently commercially available as food supplements. Their bioactive
properties cannot be standardized and validated due to inconsistency in structure and
bioavailability in oral form. The production of brown algae for fucoidan competes
with use of brown algae as food and for production of other products from brown
algae such as alginates. With potential applications of fucoidan as a low-cost treatment for diseases such as colon cancer and type 2 diabetes, these fucose sulfated
polysaccharides remain of significant research and commercial interests.
References
Alboofetileh M, Rezaei M, Tabarsa M, You S, Mariatti F, Cravotto G (2019) Subcritical water
extraction as an efficient technique to isolate biologically-active fucoidans from Nizamuddinia
zanardinii. Int J Biol Macromol 128:244–253
Alghazwi M, Smid S, Karpiniec S, Zhang W (2019) Comparative study on neuroprotective activities
of fucoidans from Fucus vesiculosus and Undaria pinnatifida. Int J Biol Macromol 122:255–264
Alsac JM, Delbosc S, Rouer M, Journe C, Louedec L, Meilhac O, Michel JB (2013) Fucoidan interferes with Porphyromonas gingivalis-induced aneurysm enlargement by decreasing neutrophil
activation. J Vasc Surg 57:796–805