Food scientists and the healthy product development community continue to comb the earth’s resources for compounds that prove beneficial to human and animal health.

Currently, the extraction of bioactive substances from the sea, especially brown seaweed, has become a major focus for dietary improvement through the development of functional foods and dietary supplements.

Fucoidan is a term used for a class of sulfated, fucose-rich, polysaccharides found in the fibrillar cell walls and intercellular spaces of brown seaweeds of the class Phaeophyceae. The main active ingredient in fucoidan is these fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides (FCSPs).

Brown seaweeds have been used in human history for more than 1000 years and are commonly used in Asian foods. Currently, substantial pharmaceutical studies have been performed on brown seaweeds and in particular, fucoidan, its main active compound. Studies have revealed that fucioidan has several potential uses.