FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF NATURAL CALCIUM FROM SEAWEEDS

As dietary intakes levels of Calcium decrease below those recommended by health authorities the incidence of Osteoporosis is set to continue to rise. To address this issue it is becoming necessary to fortify regularly consumed foods such as cereals, biscuits etc. with ingredients such as AquaCal. AquaCal is a natural, organic source of calcium that is produced from calcified seaweed, Phymatolithon and Lithothamnion and can be utilised for Calcium and magnesium supplementation in a broad range of foods and beverages. AquaCal presents a great potential over other calcium sources because of its porous structure and it composition associating key minerals as calcium, magnesium and boron in addition to being neutral in taste in applications. Once consumed the efficacy of AquaCal must then be verified therefore a bioavailability a comparative feeding study to assess effects of AquaCal on bone density was carried out. There was no significant difference in bioavailability based on calcium absorption between AquaCal and Limestone however the weights of the femurs of the animals fed AquaCal did significantly increase over the group fed Limestone. As a natural and organic mineral AquaCal has many different fields of application.