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Research on a variety of seaweed species

07.02.2012
Daniel Coaten, lector at KIT
Daniel Coaten, lector at KIT
Keilir Institute of Technology (KIT) recently received a one million IKR grant for research on the use of seaweed in certified organic health and skin care products.

Keilir Institute of Technology (KIT) recently received a one million IKR grant from the Ministry of Industry and Association of Municipalities in the Sudurnes region for research on the use of seaweed in certified organic health and skin care products. 

Research on a variety of seaweed species and their extracts obtained from Suðurnes, for use in certified organic health and skin care products

The seaweed resources of Iceland are believed to be among the largest underexploited seaweed resources in the world. The Reykjanes area has an exceptionally large seaweed resource, compared to other parts of the country, which are potentially of high economic value. The international demand for seaweeds has been rising, and so has the interest of commercially exploiting seaweeds around Iceland.  

The main focus of this project is to look at the possible uses for the different species of seaweed which grown along the coastline of the area of Reykjanes peninsula. 
 
The two main areas which have been chosen are in the form of the food (specifically health food) and cosmetic industries. In both of these industries various types of seaweed are regularly used either in their raw form (i.e. generally just cleaned and dried), or as extracts (such as thickeners like carrageenan or agar agar). 
 
  1. It is therefore the first goal of this project to conduct research into the feasibility of setting up a company/manufacturing plant in order to sustainably grow, harvest and process this seaweed (producing a variety of extracts) to meet the needs of a global market. 

    It has also been seen that over the last 10 years consumer interest in buying certified organic products (both as food and in the form of skin-care products) has risen considerably making it a multimillion dollar industry.
  2. It is therefore an important aspect of this project to look into the possibility of getting the area/s in which the seaweed species are to be collected to be certified organic. 
This would mean that the seaweed collected from these areas would be classified as certified organic and would therefore fetch a much higher price on the market. Not only this, but because of Iceland’s reputation as a clean and unspoilt area it makes it one of the few places in the world which could qualify for certification of their coastline as certified organic (at present there are only two other areas in the West of Iceland where the shoreline has been certified as organic). This in turn would make these products/extracts an even rarer commodity which would dominate this niche market area and should sell at premium prices. 
 
Another advantage of obtaining organic certification in these areas would mean that not only the seaweed collected would be certified organic, but also other species of plants/animals/fish etc collected from the designated area would also be considered as being certified organic. This may help to open up a whole new sector of industry for the local area/s with further development of more companies and more job opportunities. 
 
There are companies already set up which provide many extracts from seaweed (please see attached brochure from a company in France called “Biotech Marine” which shows examples of the types of extracts which could be produced and their applications) for use in a variety of skin and hair care products, but to my knowledge there are as of yet none which provide them from a certified organic source. 
 
If this project were to go ahead and its results are seen to be favourable. Then the resulting formation of a company/processing facilities would offer a great many job opportunities in the local area, which would cover all aspects of production (i.e. from harvesting, to preparing, to extraction, and packing/distribution etc) as well as creating a value from the now relatively unutilized seaweed resource.
 
The project is lead by Mr. Daniel Coaten, lector in chemistry at the Keilir Institute of Technology Engineering Technology programme.
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