Seaweed & Algal Ingredients

The sea grows raw material without irrigation, fertiliser or arable land — and it grows a great deal of it. Macroalgae and microalgae build their biomass from dissolved minerals and sunlight, accumulating polysaccharides, proteins, pigments and trace elements that land-grown crops rarely match. Eata Marisource takes that biomass and turns it into the forms manufacturing and laboratory customers actually specify: milled seaweed powders, standardised seaweed extracts, dried microalgal biomass and separated fibre fractions.

What a marine ingredient can do inside your process is decided by specification, not by description. Gel strength, particle-size distribution, ash content, marker concentration and contaminant profile all shift with species, harvest region and processing route. That is why every material in this range is characterised by measurable parameters and released together with its own lot certificate of analysis.

The range at a glance

Four material families cover most requests, and each one can be supplied at more than one level of refinement — from whole biomass through to a fraction purified on a single marker compound.

Material family	Forms supplied	Sources	Where it is used
Seaweed Powders & Biomass	Milled powder 40–200 mesh, flakes, granules, cut pieces	Brown, red and green macroalgae	Bulk formulation filler, feed blending, mineral and iodine carriers, extraction feedstock
Seaweed Extracts	Powder, flake, granule, liquid concentrate	Kelp, bladderwrack, wakame, sea lettuce, red algae	Thickeners and gelling systems, bioactive screening, cosmetic actives, biostimulant raw materials
Microalgal Powders & Biomass	Whole-cell powder, cell-wall-disrupted powder	Cyanobacteria and eukaryotic microalgae	Protein and pigment sourcing, antioxidant work, hatchery and feed trials
Seaweed Fibre Ingredients	Fibre concentrate, powder, cut filament	Brown kelp, red algae, green algae	Texture and hydration systems, fibre-enriched blends, renewable material prototypes

Fine milled marine ingredient powder displayed in a glass laboratory dish.

Figure 1. A milled marine raw material on the bench, examined for colour uniformity and grind consistency before release.

Seaweed Powders & Biomass

Whole dried seaweed, milled to a stated screen size, is the most direct way to buy marine chemistry. Colour groups behave differently: brown seaweeds deliver alginates and fucoidans alongside iodine and mannitol, red seaweeds carry sulphated galactans such as carrageenan and porphyran, and green seaweeds offer ulvan — a rhamnose-rich polysaccharide with its own solubility profile. Grind size is set to order, so a single species can serve as a coarse blending meal or a fine flour for further processing.

Because harvest season and site affect mineral loading, we define each powder by measurable ranges rather than fixed single figures. Indicative values for the materials we handle most often are set out below; tighter windows are available on request.

Material	Particle size	Moisture	Ash	Characteristic markers
Kelp powder (Saccharina / Laminaria spp.)	60–100 mesh	≤ 10%	15–25%	Alginic acid, fucoidan, laminarin, iodine
Ascophyllum nodosum meal	80–100 mesh	≤ 10%	18–26%	Alginic acid, betaines, mannitol
Bladderwrack powder (Fucus vesiculosus)	80 mesh	≤ 8%	12–20%	Fucoidan, phlorotannins, iodine
Wakame powder (Undaria pinnatifida)	80–120 mesh	≤ 10%	20–30%	Fucoidan, fucoxanthin
Sea lettuce powder (Ulva spp.)	80–200 mesh	≤ 8%	12–20%	Ulvan, rhamnose, calcium
Dulse flakes or powder (Palmaria palmata)	40–80 mesh	≤ 10%	8–15%	Protein 12–20%, porphyran
Irish moss powder (Chondrus crispus)	80 mesh	≤ 10%	12–20%	κ- and ι-carrageenan precursors

Assorted dried seaweeds including kelp, nori, dulse and sea lettuce shown as raw material samples.

Figure 2. Whole dried seaweeds across three colour groups — the starting point shared by every powder, extract and fibre fraction in the range.

Seaweed Extracts

Extraction concentrates the fraction you are interested in and moves the rest aside. Water, alkaline, acidic and enzymatic routes each release a different set of molecules from the same seaweed, and purification can stop at a crude ratio concentrate or continue until one marker dominates the specification.

Extract	Source	Standardisation options	Format	Behaviour in water
Sodium alginate / alginic acid	Brown algae	18–40% alginic acid; viscosity and M/G ratio grades on purified types	Powder, granule	Dissolves to a viscous solution; gels in the presence of calcium
Fucoidan	Fucus vesiculosus, Undaria pinnatifida, Laminaria spp.	15–95% sulphated polysaccharide; defined molecular-weight fractions	Powder	Freely soluble, mildly viscous, heat stable
Laminarin	Saccharina / Laminaria spp.	40–90% β-(1,3)-glucan	Powder	Cold-water soluble
Carrageenan (κ, ι, λ)	Chondrus crispus, Eucheuma, Kappaphycus	Gel strength in g/cm², viscosity, potassium reactivity	Powder	κ forms firm elastic gels; λ remains non-gelling
Agar and agarose	Gelidium, Gracilaria	Gel strength, sulphate content, EEO grade	Powder	Dissolves hot, sets on cooling
Ulvan	Ulva spp.	30–70% sulphated polysaccharide	Powder	Soluble with low viscosity
Phlorotannin-rich extract	Fucus vesiculosus, Ascophyllum nodosum	Total polyphenols 20–60%	Powder, liquid	Soluble; light- and oxygen-sensitive
Seaweed liquid concentrate	Ascophyllum nodosum	Alginic acid 20–150 g/L, organic matter 100–450 g/L, K₂O 15–40 g/L	Liquid	Pourable, fully miscible, stable at ambient storage

Laboratory glassware filled with filtered brown seaweed extract liquid.

Figure 3. Brown seaweed extract after filtration — the intermediate stage before concentration, drying or fractionation on a specific marker.

Microalgal Powders & Biomass

Microalgae are cultivated in closed photobioreactors or open raceway ponds, harvested by centrifugation and dried to a stable powder. The cultivation route leaves measurable fingerprints: closed systems hold contamination risk down and keep composition steady across seasons, while open ponds lower cost per tonne. Cell-wall integrity is a second lever — intact cells disperse without releasing their contents, whereas disrupted material gives up protein, pigments and lipids far more readily.

Species	Principal markers	Typical content	Notes
Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis	Phycocyanin, chlorophyll, protein	Protein ≥ 60%, phycocyanin 8–12%	Blue-green biomass, fine 80–120 mesh powder
Chlorella vulgaris	Protein, chlorophyll, carotenoids	Protein 50–65%, chlorophyll 2–3%	Supplied whole-cell or with > 95% disrupted cell wall
Dunaliella salina	Natural β-carotene	Total carotenoids 1–10%	Halophilic species, pond-cultivated
Haematococcus pluvialis	Astaxanthin	Astaxanthin 1.5–5%	Deep red biomass, astaxanthin present as esters
Nannochloropsis spp.	EPA, protein	Protein 35–50%, EPA-rich lipids	Feed trials, hatchery nutrition
Tetraselmis spp. / Isochrysis spp.	DHA and EPA	Species-dependent lipid profile	Live-feed replacement formats for hatcheries
Schizochytrium spp.	DHA	DHA-rich biomass or oil fraction	Heterotrophic fermentation, consistent batches

Vertical glass tubes of green microalgae culture inside an indoor photobioreactor system.

Figure 4. Closed photobioreactors in a cultivation hall, where light, temperature and nutrient feed are held under control.

Seaweed Fibre Ingredients

Fibre makes up the quiet majority of seaweed mass, and it rarely behaves like the fibre used to bulk out a formulation. Total dietary fibre above 50% is common, split between soluble polysaccharides that hold several times their weight in water and insoluble cell-wall material that adds structure instead of volume. Hydration figures usually tell you more than fibre content alone: a material holding 7–10 g of water per gram, or swelling past 9 mL/g, will change mouthfeel, dough behaviour and extrusion performance well before it changes the label.

Fibre type	Total dietary fibre	Soluble fraction	Water-holding capacity	Swelling	Mesh
Brown kelp fibre concentrate	≥ 50%, up to 90% on purified grades	14–40%	7–10 g/g	9–15 mL/g	80–120
Red algal fibre	≥ 45%	25–45%	6–9 g/g	8–12 mL/g	80–200
Green algal (Ulva) fibre	40–60%	20–35%	6–8 g/g	7–10 mL/g	100–200
Spun alginate fibre	85–95% as alginic acid	Fully soluble	Cation-dependent, high	—	Continuous filament or cut staple

Macro view of pale fibrous seaweed strands resting on a dark surface.

Figure 5. Seaweed fibre strands under raking light, showing the cellular architecture responsible for their water-binding behaviour.

How every lot is characterised

Documentation is part of the product. Each lot is tested against the parameters that appear on its specification, and the results travel with the material.

Parameter	Method	Why it matters
Species identity	Macroscopic and microscopic examination; DNA-based confirmation where requested	Confirms you are working with the species you specified, not a related harvest
Particle size distribution	Sieve analysis or laser diffraction	Controls dispersion, blending behaviour and downstream screening
Moisture	Loss on drying	Sets storage stability and effective dry-weight dosing
Ash and total minerals	Gravimetric determination	Indicates mineral loading balance against organic content
Protein	Kjeldahl or Dumas combustion	Verifies protein claims in microalgal biomass
Marker polysaccharides	Alginic acid, fucoidan, laminarin, carrageenan assays	Ties the lot to the functional fraction you are paying for
Pigments and bioactives	HPLC for β-carotene, astaxanthin, chlorophylls, phycocyanin	Quantifies colour value and antioxidant markers
Iodine and trace minerals	ICP-OES, titration	Central for kelp-based materials where iodine is the target
Heavy metals	ICP-MS	Routes sensitive end-uses through the right grade
Microbiology	Total plate count, yeast and mould, E. coli, Salmonella	Supports clean handling and downstream processing
Functional performance	Viscosity, gel strength, water-holding and swelling capacity	Predicts process behaviour, not just composition
Solubility and dispersibility	Water, alcohol, glycerin systems	Determines which formulation format the material suits

Three amber glass bottles holding green, dark brown and cream coloured marine powders.

Figure 6. Reference samples in amber glass: microalgal powder, brown seaweed material and a light-coloured fibre grade.

Where marine ingredients earn their place

Marine raw materials tend to appear where water binding, gel formation, mineral density or pigment content does real work. The list below reflects the applications our customers bring to us most often.

Personal care and cosmetics — film formers, gelling and thickening agents, moisture-binding polysaccharides, pigment and emulsion stabilisers.
Food and beverage development — gelling and stabilising systems, fibre enrichment, mineral fortification and natural colour sources.
Animal nutrition and aquaculture — pellet binders, hatchery and larval feeds, pigment carriers for aquatic species.
Agriculture and horticulture — biostimulant raw materials, soil amendment trials and foliar formulation inputs.
Biomaterials and packaging — alginate films, seaweed cellulose, and degradable material prototyping.
Analytical and academic laboratories — reference substrates, cell and tissue study materials, calibration and method development.

Built around your specification

Marine materials are naturally variable, so most projects need adjustment somewhere. We work from your target parameters rather than from a fixed shelf, and the table below shows the levers available once a specification is agreed.

What you define	What we adjust
Species and origin	Selection among brown, red and green macroalgae or specific microalgal strains, with harvest region matched to marker profile
Extraction route	Water, alkaline, acidic or enzymatic processing, and the extraction ratio that suits your target fraction
Marker concentration	Standardisation on one or several markers, from crude ratio concentrates to high-purity fractions
Molecular weight	Fractionation to deliver a defined size window for viscosity or solubility targets
Purity profile	Reduced ash, reduced mineral content, decolourisation and deodorisation steps
Physical form	Milling to a stated screen size, granulation, flake, or liquid concentrate at a fixed solids level
Packaging	Bulk units and private-label filling, with labelling arranged around your own brand

Tell us the specification you are working to — species, marker level, particle size, format and pack — and we will confirm what can be matched, what needs a development step, and which grade is the closest starting point. Evaluation quantities and full specification sheets are available before you commit to a production batch.

For Research or Industrial Raw Materials, Not For Personal Medical Use!