The health claims associated with seaweed products are often based on insufficient (or completely absent) evidence from human intervention studies to substantiate such statements. 2ДЄn abundance of commercially available seaweed products, including both whole seaweed and seaweed extracts, are marketed both directly and indirectly as value-added products for the promotion of health in the supplement market. 7 Future considerations for stakeholder management include resource ownership best practices for cultivation harvesting rights/licensing certification/validation of origin overexploitation biomass regrowth environmental impacts and the development of a sustainable value chain within the agrifood sector. 6ДЄquaculture is recognized as the most sustainable means of seaweed production and accounts for approximately 27.3 million tonnes (96%) of global seaweed production per annum, yet the growing demand for seaweed-based food ingredients calls for more established guidelines and regulations to ensure sustainability. There are only limited reports of green seaweeds contributing to dietary intake of either essential nutrients or bioactive components, despite the potential for transient algal blooms to be exploited. Current understanding of the health-promoting activities of red seaweeds derives from an abundance of in vitro studies and in vivo animal studies.

Scientific experiments and human studies to date have focused predominantly on brown seaweeds and derivatives, largely because of their commercial abundance and perceived sustainability.Дespite the nutritional attributes of red seaweeds such as Porphyra spp (also known as nori) and Palmaria palmata (dulse), which have a high protein content, relatively few investigations have focused on red seaweeds as a source of bioactive components. 5 The candidate bioactive components of interest to industry include isolated polysaccharides (eg, alginate, fucoidan), proteins (eg, phycobiliproteins), polyphenols (eg, phlorotannins), carotenoids (eg, fucoxanthin), and n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (eg, eicosapentaenoic acid). 4 The recent surge of interest in seaweed is fueled by attention on the bioactive components of seaweed, which have potential applications in the lucrative functional food and nutraceutical industries, with impetus toward the alleviation of metabolic risk factors such as hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hyperlipidemia. 1вЂ“3 Inclusion of seaweeds in Western diets has traditionally been limited to artisanal practices and coastal communities but has gained wider consumer interest in recent years, courtesy of the health-food industry.

Mechanistic evidence, in particular, is imperative to substantiate health claims.Д®dible seaweeds (macroalgae) have the potential to provide a rich and sustainable source of macronutrients and micronutrients to the human diet, particularly in regions where seaweed makes a significant contribution to regular meals, eg, in Japan, where approximately one-fifth of meals contain seaweed. If the potential functional food and nutraceutical applications of seaweeds are to be realized, more evidence from human intervention studies is needed to evaluate the nutritional benefits of seaweeds and the efficacy of their purported bioactive components.

This narrative review summarizes the nutritional composition of edible seaweeds evaluates the evidence regarding the health benefits of whole seaweeds, extracted bioactive components, and seaweed-based food products in humans and assesses the potential adverse effects of edible seaweeds, including those related to ingestion of excess iodine and arsenic. Recent interest in seaweeds as a source of macronutrients, micronutrients, and bioactive components has highlighted prospective applications within the functional food and nutraceutical industries, with impetus toward the alleviation of risk factors associated with noncommunicable diseases such as obesity, typeВ 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

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