Seaweed-based Functional Foods

Functional foods, defined as foods that not only meet nutritional needs but also confer health benefits, are growing at an unprecedented rate, with the global market in 2013 expected to reach €200 billion (USD264.4 billion). Seaweeds are rich in a wide variety of bioactive components, contributing to many health benefits, and accordingly can be classified as a source of functional food ingredients. However, the lack of technologies optimized to render them suitable for human consumption at an industrial scale is a serious limitation on the growth of the seaweed functional foods sector. This chapter presents some effective optimized processing methodologies that can be used to overcome mainly textural limitations (which are a major obstacle in utilizing seaweeds in food products) and at the same time to minimize nutritional losses. Examples demonstrating the feasibility of using the proposed processing methodologies in the development of seaweed-based functional foods with considerable nutritional characteristics and high consumer appeal are also given.