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Stornoway, Lewis
Celebrity Joanna Lumley swears by it and now traditional island seaweed cutters are
poised to break into the multi-
market.
Stornoway-
health food science study which could exploit the demand for natural superfood
extracts.
Prebiotic, which is extracted from certain soil-
digestive system and helps people feel more energised by feeding the "friendly"
bacteria in the body.
It is found naturally in wheat, banana and onions but an emerging craze has
created a demand for foods with added prebiotic like cereals, yoghurt and milk.
Actress Joanna Lumley is fronting a TV advert for prebiotics in Muller yoghurts.
Now commercial quantities of the compound have been discovered in seaweed
growing naturally in the clean waters around the Western Isles.
Sales of the marine supplements are predicted to explode with the next few years as people switch on to its health advantages.
Benefits include lowering the risk of digestive disease and illness and it is
also thought to help brittle bones retain calcium -
to osteoporosis
A raft of global experts converged on the islands this week to find out more.
Hebridean Seaweed, which employs 38 people in Lewis and Uist, mostly cutting the weed in the traditional method using scythes, is hosting an international
conference for researchers with an interest in devising commercial opportunities
for seaweeds for health.
They have purchased the UK's only seaweed cutting machine and this week the
delegates took a break from the Stornoway seminars and to watch it in action.
Volunteer human trials at the University of Ulster is testing seaweed from Uist
and Lewis to see how it can boost people's immune systems and help the digestive tract.
If successful the Hebridean Seaweed Company would be at the centre of
state-
The firm, set up by North Lochs men Martin Macleod and Malcolm Macrae, would divert their aquamarine harvest from the livestock feed sector into the health food market.
Malcolm Macrae said: "It will open up a more lucrative market. We are already
providing food supplements and have been awarded organic certification.
"We need to diversify and have set up a new joint venture company to handle food grade seaweed."
Their drying plant is busy operating 16 hours a day but "if things go according
to plan we could increase this to round-
Sarah Hotchkiss of research group CyberColloids Ireland CyberColloids said:
"This promises to a big boom industry. Prebiotics has positive health benefits."
She highlighted it was packed with "vitamins, minerals and fibre -
beneficial for health. We are looking at big news here."
She said it was used a lot in Asia but Europe still had to wake up to its huge
benefits.
Colleague Colin Hepburn said: "This is a first. It just hasn't been done before.
The Hebridean Seaweed Company is at the cutting edge of innovation."
He added: "In some case prebiotics can prevent colon cancer. The global health
and wellness market is worth £625 million and is growing at 8% annually. Even
the yoghurt and yoghurt drink market is valued at £7.6 billion."
Island firm on cusp of seaweed health bonanza 24/6/10
Harvesting seaweed on Lewis with the UK’s only cutting machine