The advantage of Seakura’s Ulva

Market size

The global seaweed market is rising steadily. Ulva is part of the green seaweed variety, that together with the brown and red seaweed expected to reach a global market value of 17B$ by 2021.
60% of the Ulva seaweed market is sold as a raw material, 20% for nutritional supplements and 20% to the food industry.

Main uses

The main use for Ulva seaweed is as a food source for people and as a nutritional supplement. It is found on the list of seaweed safe for human consumption. The Ulva serves as a water purifier
in integrative marine agriculture, in which it absorbs the carbon dioxide emissions from fish and marine invertebrates (at a rate of 3 grams of anorganic carbon dioxide per square meter daily), which allows water to be recycled for use in growing living things. It also absorbs metals emitted from industrial spillage.
The Ulva is used as well as a nutritional supplement in raising fish, marine invertebrates and cattle by making use of the seaweed’s biological activity. Ulva further acts as a fertilizer in
conventional agricultural which improves the ability of plants to withstand diseases as well as providing growth hormones.
In the future, Ulva seaweed may act as a source of biofuel due to its production of a highly effective organic material as well as its high concentration of carbohydrates.

Nutritional values

Ulva is rich in soluble and non-soluble nutritional fibers, which together form 38% of its dry weight. It contains a protein which can be separated and which reaches 32% of the dry weight,
at 86% digestibility, as well as all of the necessary amino acids including tryptophan (which form 48% of all the amino acids). The Ulva contains minerals at a level of 30% of the dry
weight (including iodine, and magnesium at a particularly high concentration, calcium, potassium, iron and more), a small amount of fats at 3% of the dry weight, vitamins (including A, C and
B12) and antioxidants. Fresh Ulva is composed of 85% water.
In addition, of course, it contains chlorophyll pigmentation, beta carotene and lutein.

Health benefits

Ulva is a food which contains materials with biological and health operations, including anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-cancer, antioxidant, and anticoagulant materials,
as well as lowering LDL cholesterol, increasing HDL cholesterol, strengthening the immune system, reducing absorption in the intestines, lowering blood pressure, repairing liver damage,
encouraging production of collagen and more. A large part of the activity is carried out by the sulfate carbohydrate called ulvan which is found in Ulva.

The advantage of Seakura’s Ulva

Ulva is grown at the Seakura facility in controlled seawater pools. The advantage of growing seaweed in pools as opposed to in the sea lies in the following areas: Ulva which is free of sand and other types of competing seaweed; there are no living creatures eating it (marine plant-eaters); it is not affected by municipal or industrial spillage. The growth process in the pools in controlled- in other words, it may be directed towards enrichment with more dietary fibers, or more protein, or more minerals. Growth in the pools is a continual, year-round process and is not dependent upon seasonal temperature fluctuations which occur at sea. Growth in pools is reliant in part upon mechanization, while growth at sea depends in great part on manual labor.

The advantages of Seakura’s Ulva variety

The variety of Ulva raised by Seakura is of extremely high quality and has undergone selection for controlled growing. It spontaneously reproduces asexually, allowing us to achieve new, healthy generations of Ulva at a rapid rate.

Conclusion

Ulva is a quality plant food, but also a potential raw material from which it is possible to produce a long line of products with nutritional, health and financial value.