A standardised hot-water extract of the North Atlantic brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum, made in Japan and standardised to not less than 20% ascophyllan, a sulfated polysaccharide with a uronic acid backbone that differs from fucoidan in sugar composition. Activated carbon treatment keeps arsenic and heavy metals low and removes the viscosity and most of the seaweed odour. Studied intake is 100 mg per day, so one kilogram covers about 10,000 daily servings in capsules, tablets, stick packs or drinks.
Tell us what you are developing and which documents you need. We reply from Japan within one working day with the product specification, SDS and the CoA of the current lot.
The extract is made in Japan from sun-dried Ascophyllum nodosum harvested in the North Atlantic. The process is a hot-water extraction followed by a purification chain designed to take out what makes raw seaweed difficult to formulate: arsenic and heavy metals, alginate viscosity and the marine odour. No organic solvents are used.
Step 1 · dried whole seaweed
Sun-dried Ascophyllum nodosum is washed, treated with citric acid and extracted with hot water
Step 2 · solids removed
Insoluble seaweed matter is separated; the extract is neutralised with sodium hydroxide
Step 3 · arsenic, heavy metals, odour
Activated carbon adsorbs arsenic and heavy metals and strips most of the seaweed odour; followed by filtration and fine filtration
Step 4 · heat
The purified extract is concentrated, filtered and heat-sterilised
Step 5 · brown powder
The liquid extract is spray-dried to a free-flowing brown powder and sieved
Step 6 · 500 g pouches
Packed in laminated aluminium pouches, X-ray inspected, released against the specification with a lot CoA
The grade on this page. Other grades, where available, are specified on request.
Example lot values are published in the developer's guide below. They are an example, not a specification; your lot's CoA governs.
A Japanese trading company selling directly to brand owners and contract manufacturers. No distributor layer between you and the documents.
Every shipment travels with the Certificate of Analysis of its own lot, with the measured values and the full safety panel.
A small first order lets you run a pilot batch before committing to bulk. Larger volumes are quoted by volume and delivery terms.
For registered companies developing a product. Tell us the format you plan and we will say honestly what to expect.
After payment is received. Freight quoted on request. Specification and SDS before you order, CoA with the goods.
If you are comparing ingredients for a new SKU, these questions separate one material from another quickly.
The specification guarantees not less than 20%. Ask for the measured value of the lot you will receive and keep the CoA with your batch record.
Iodine is not a specification parameter. Brown seaweeds carry iodine, and daily-intake limits differ by market, so request the lot data before you fix the serving size.
The producer's human studies used 100 mg per day. At that level a 500 g pouch gives 5,000 servings, and the powder fits a single small capsule, a tablet, a stick pack or a drink without thickening it.
Appetite, weight and immune wording is regulated differently in the USA, the EU, the Gulf and the CIS. Our documents describe what was studied; the wording on your label is set by your market and your regulatory adviser.
The seaweed has a long food history in Northern Europe, but the regulatory status of a standardised extract differs by market and is not covered by a producer statement. Check it for your destination before the first order.
No certificate is on file for this extract. If your market or brand needs one, ask us before you order and we will confirm the current status with the producer.
What each component is, what the processing changes, and what published research on the raw material has examined. No health claims; references on request.
Ascophyllan Extract Powder is a Japanese-made, water-extracted ingredient from Ascophyllum nodosum, standardised to not less than 20% ascophyllan. Compared with a crude seaweed powder it brings three practical differences to a formulation: the arsenic and heavy-metal load is controlled at specification level, the alginate viscosity is gone, and the seaweed odour is reduced far enough that a 100 mg serving has no noticeable effect on taste. Iizuka Shoukai supplies it from Japan to brand owners and contract manufacturers with the specification, SDS and the CoA of the lot you receive.
The extract is positioned around the intestinal hormone GLP-1. Published cell studies examined whether ascophyllan stimulates GLP-1 release from an intestinal L-cell line, and the producer's small human studies looked at satiety ratings after a single 100 mg serving and at body weight over eight weeks. That makes it a candidate ingredient for pre-meal and appetite-support formulas, where it is usually combined with ingredients that address other targets, for example dextrins or Salacia for carbohydrate absorption and black ginger for energy expenditure. In Japan it is already offered in pairs of this kind as a pre-meal supplement.
The second positioning is immune support. The producer's double-blind study in adults with lower natural killer cell activity used 100 mg per day for eight weeks and measured NK cell activity and serum cytokines; in vitro work examined dendritic cell maturation. The third is oral care: published studies on the source seaweed examined dental plaque and calculus indices in people and volatile sulfur compounds in dogs, which is why the raw material already appears in several Japanese pet oral-care products.
At 100 mg per day the extract occupies almost no room in a formula. One small capsule holds the full daily amount, and tablets, granules and stick packs are the formats with the most production experience. The powder dissolves at 0.1%, 0.5% and 2.0% without raising viscosity, so clear drinks and jellies are possible; check colour and the faint marine note in the finished flavour. Producer data show the extract is stable through heat sterilisation at 90 C.
The producer's specification, the lot CoA, the SDS, allergen and GMO statements, and the list of published studies. Tell us your format, target market and the other actives in the formula and we will check compatibility before a trial batch. Related ingredients on this site: Nattokinase 40,000 FU/g and C-Phycocyanin Powder.
Ascophyllan is a water-soluble sulfated polysaccharide found in the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum, with a molecular weight of roughly 100,000 to 300,000 Da. It is often grouped with fucoidans because both are sulfated polysaccharides from brown algae, but the sugar analysis shows a different molecule. Ascophyllan has a backbone of uronic acid with xylose and fucose as side chains; in the reference analysis uronic acid made up 21.4% and xylose 13.4% of the polysaccharide, with fucose at 15.5% and sulfate at 9.6%. A Fucus fucoidan analysed in the same study was built on fucose (28.4%) with far more sulfate (19.4%) and little uronic acid (5.8%) or xylose (4.3%) (Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2009; 73: 961-964). Because the polysaccharide is not fully broken down by human digestive enzymes, it behaves in the gut largely as a soluble fibre.
Ascophyllum nodosum, knotted wrack, grows only along the cold coasts of the North Atlantic, from Ireland and Norway to Canada, in shallow water, reaching about two metres. It is a slow, long-lived species: individual plants live five to ten years and up to sixteen, against about one year for wakame or Okinawa mozuku and about four for kombu (Botanica Marina 1981; 24: 29-38, and Japanese phycological literature). In Northern Europe it has long been eaten in salads and pickles and brewed as a tea, and it is harvested by hand and sun-dried soon after cutting. The food history matters for regulatory conversations, but note that a standardised extract is assessed separately from the whole seaweed in several markets.
The research below is listed so that your R&D and regulatory teams know what exists. None of it is a claim for the finished product; wording on a label is set by the rules of your market.
A study in International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (2019; 125: 453-458) added the extract and purified ascophyllan at 1, 10 and 100 ng/mL to the human intestinal L-cell line NCI-H716 and measured GLP-1 in the culture medium against a control; the same paper examined inhibition of the brush-border enzyme alpha-glucosidase in vitro and reported no effect on alpha-amylase. The paper also describes an eight-week randomised double-blind study in which participants took 100 mg of the extract per day and were assessed by an oral glucose tolerance test (glucose at five time points after a 30 g load) and by HbA1c. GLP-1 is an incretin released by intestinal L-cells after a meal; it acts on the hypothalamus, slows gastric emptying and supports glucose-dependent insulin release.
A single-blind crossover test in 17 adults (mean age about 42) compared 100 mg of the extract with placebo taken one hour before a meal eaten to comfortable fullness; the endpoints were the amount eaten and hunger, fullness, prospective consumption and satisfaction ratings on a visual analogue scale every 30 minutes for four hours (producer monitor study, 2025). A double-blind placebo-controlled pilot in 12 adults aged 40-59 (six per group) took 100 mg per day for eight weeks and tracked body weight (producer monitor study, 2014). Both are pilots with small groups; they describe what was measured, not an expected result for a consumer.
In vitro, ascophyllan was examined for its effect on bone-marrow-derived dendritic cells, including morphology, surface markers (CD86, MHC class II) and cytokine output (IL-6, IL-12), with fucoidan run in parallel (Marine Drugs 2014; 12: 4148-4164), and on nitric oxide and cytokine production by mouse macrophages (Nitric Oxide 2011; 25: 407-415). The producer's double-blind human study (FoodStyle 21, 2013; 17: 91-93) enrolled 12 adults aged 40-59 with NK cell activity below the usual range (mean 15.8%, reference 18-40%), six per group, 100 mg per day for eight weeks, and measured NK cell activity and serum interferon-gamma and interleukin-12 at weeks 0 and 8.
A six-month crossover study in 55 adults (mean age 58) used capsules of Ascophyllum nodosum equivalent to 100 mg of the extract per day and scored calculus (Volpe-Manhold), plaque (Quigley-Hein), gingival index and gingival bleeding after a professional cleaning at baseline (Clinical Oral Investigations 2014; 19: 1507-1518). A 90-day study in 60 dogs fed a supplement containing the seaweed measured volatile sulfur compounds, the main source of breath odour, with a test strip at days 0, 30, 60 and 90 (Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2018; 5: 168).
Residual pesticide screen of 400 compounds and veterinary drug screen of 40 compounds, both not detected; Ames test negative; acute oral LD50 in mice above 2,000 mg/kg; no allergens, non-GMO, no bovine material. Arsenic and lead are specification limits on every lot. Iodine is not a specification parameter and should be requested per lot, because intake limits for iodine differ by market.
Think of it as a 100 mg per day active that leaves the rest of the formula free. It pairs naturally with ingredients that act on other parts of a weight-management or glucose-management concept, with immune blends built on vitamin D, zinc or beta-glucans, and with oral-care formats such as tablets and chewables. Iizuka Shoukai also runs OEM production of capsules, tablets and stick packs at our own plant in Gunma, Japan, if you would rather receive a finished private-label product than the raw powder.
Start at the minimum order. Free sample. Specification, SDS and lot CoA on request.
Request a sample or quotationAscophyllan Extract Powder is a Japanese-made, water-extracted ingredient from Ascophyllum nodosum, standardised to not less than 20% ascophyllan. Compared with a crude seaweed powder it brings three practical differences to a formulation: the arsenic and heavy-metal load is controlled at specification level, the alginate viscosity is gone, and the seaweed odour is reduced far enough that a 100 mg serving has no noticeable effect on taste. Iizuka Shoukai supplies it from Japan to brand owners and contract manufacturers with the specification, SDS and the CoA of the lot you receive.
The extract is positioned around the intestinal hormone GLP-1. Published cell studies examined whether ascophyllan stimulates GLP-1 release from an intestinal L-cell line, and the producer's small human studies looked at satiety ratings after a single 100 mg serving and at body weight over eight weeks. That makes it a candidate ingredient for pre-meal and appetite-support formulas, where it is usually combined with ingredients that address other targets, for example dextrins or Salacia for carbohydrate absorption and black ginger for energy expenditure. In Japan it is already offered in pairs of this kind as a pre-meal supplement.
The second positioning is immune support. The producer's double-blind study in adults with lower natural killer cell activity used 100 mg per day for eight weeks and measured NK cell activity and serum cytokines; in vitro work examined dendritic cell maturation. The third is oral care: published studies on the source seaweed examined dental plaque and calculus indices in people and volatile sulfur compounds in dogs, which is why the raw material already appears in several Japanese pet oral-care products.
At 100 mg per day the extract occupies almost no room in a formula. One small capsule holds the full daily amount, and tablets, granules and stick packs are the formats with the most production experience. The powder dissolves at 0.1%, 0.5% and 2.0% without raising viscosity, so clear drinks and jellies are possible; check colour and the faint marine note in the finished flavour. Producer data show the extract is stable through heat sterilisation at 90 C.
The producer's specification, the lot CoA, the SDS, allergen and GMO statements, and the list of published studies. Tell us your format, target market and the other actives in the formula and we will check compatibility before a trial batch. Related ingredients on this site: Nattokinase 40,000 FU/g and C-Phycocyanin Powder.
Ascophyllan is a water-soluble sulfated polysaccharide found in the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum, with a molecular weight of roughly 100,000 to 300,000 Da. It is often grouped with fucoidans because both are sulfated polysaccharides from brown algae, but the sugar analysis shows a different molecule. Ascophyllan has a backbone of uronic acid with xylose and fucose as side chains; in the reference analysis uronic acid made up 21.4% and xylose 13.4% of the polysaccharide, with fucose at 15.5% and sulfate at 9.6%. A Fucus fucoidan analysed in the same study was built on fucose (28.4%) with far more sulfate (19.4%) and little uronic acid (5.8%) or xylose (4.3%) (Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2009; 73: 961-964). Because the polysaccharide is not fully broken down by human digestive enzymes, it behaves in the gut largely as a soluble fibre.
Ascophyllum nodosum, knotted wrack, grows only along the cold coasts of the North Atlantic, from Ireland and Norway to Canada, in shallow water, reaching about two metres. It is a slow, long-lived species: individual plants live five to ten years and up to sixteen, against about one year for wakame or Okinawa mozuku and about four for kombu (Botanica Marina 1981; 24: 29-38, and Japanese phycological literature). In Northern Europe it has long been eaten in salads and pickles and brewed as a tea, and it is harvested by hand and sun-dried soon after cutting. The food history matters for regulatory conversations, but note that a standardised extract is assessed separately from the whole seaweed in several markets.
The research below is listed so that your R&D and regulatory teams know what exists. None of it is a claim for the finished product; wording on a label is set by the rules of your market.
A study in International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (2019; 125: 453-458) added the extract and purified ascophyllan at 1, 10 and 100 ng/mL to the human intestinal L-cell line NCI-H716 and measured GLP-1 in the culture medium against a control; the same paper examined inhibition of the brush-border enzyme alpha-glucosidase in vitro and reported no effect on alpha-amylase. The paper also describes an eight-week randomised double-blind study in which participants took 100 mg of the extract per day and were assessed by an oral glucose tolerance test (glucose at five time points after a 30 g load) and by HbA1c. GLP-1 is an incretin released by intestinal L-cells after a meal; it acts on the hypothalamus, slows gastric emptying and supports glucose-dependent insulin release.
A single-blind crossover test in 17 adults (mean age about 42) compared 100 mg of the extract with placebo taken one hour before a meal eaten to comfortable fullness; the endpoints were the amount eaten and hunger, fullness, prospective consumption and satisfaction ratings on a visual analogue scale every 30 minutes for four hours (producer monitor study, 2025). A double-blind placebo-controlled pilot in 12 adults aged 40-59 (six per group) took 100 mg per day for eight weeks and tracked body weight (producer monitor study, 2014). Both are pilots with small groups; they describe what was measured, not an expected result for a consumer.
In vitro, ascophyllan was examined for its effect on bone-marrow-derived dendritic cells, including morphology, surface markers (CD86, MHC class II) and cytokine output (IL-6, IL-12), with fucoidan run in parallel (Marine Drugs 2014; 12: 4148-4164), and on nitric oxide and cytokine production by mouse macrophages (Nitric Oxide 2011; 25: 407-415). The producer's double-blind human study (FoodStyle 21, 2013; 17: 91-93) enrolled 12 adults aged 40-59 with NK cell activity below the usual range (mean 15.8%, reference 18-40%), six per group, 100 mg per day for eight weeks, and measured NK cell activity and serum interferon-gamma and interleukin-12 at weeks 0 and 8.
A six-month crossover study in 55 adults (mean age 58) used capsules of Ascophyllum nodosum equivalent to 100 mg of the extract per day and scored calculus (Volpe-Manhold), plaque (Quigley-Hein), gingival index and gingival bleeding after a professional cleaning at baseline (Clinical Oral Investigations 2014; 19: 1507-1518). A 90-day study in 60 dogs fed a supplement containing the seaweed measured volatile sulfur compounds, the main source of breath odour, with a test strip at days 0, 30, 60 and 90 (Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2018; 5: 168).
Residual pesticide screen of 400 compounds and veterinary drug screen of 40 compounds, both not detected; Ames test negative; acute oral LD50 in mice above 2,000 mg/kg; no allergens, non-GMO, no bovine material. Arsenic and lead are specification limits on every lot. Iodine is not a specification parameter and should be requested per lot, because intake limits for iodine differ by market.
Think of it as a 100 mg per day active that leaves the rest of the formula free. It pairs naturally with ingredients that act on other parts of a weight-management or glucose-management concept, with immune blends built on vitamin D, zinc or beta-glucans, and with oral-care formats such as tablets and chewables. Iizuka Shoukai also runs OEM production of capsules, tablets and stick packs at our own plant in Gunma, Japan, if you would rather receive a finished private-label product than the raw powder.
Both are sulfated polysaccharides from brown seaweed, but their sugar composition differs. In the reference analysis ascophyllan contained 21.4% uronic acid, 13.4% xylose, 15.5% fucose and 9.6% sulfate, with uronic acid forming the backbone and xylose and fucose as side chains. A Fucus fucoidan analysed in the same study was built on fucose (28.4%) with 19.4% sulfate, 5.8% uronic acid and 4.3% xylose (Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2009; 73: 961-964). Ascophyllan is found in Ascophyllum nodosum, and this extract is standardised on ascophyllan content, not on fucoidan.
Iizuka Shoukai supplies Ascophyllan Extract Powder at 1,000 USD/kg for the 500 g minimum order, packed in 500 g laminated aluminium pouches. Larger orders are quoted by volume and freight is quoted on request. Material ships from Japan 1-1.5 weeks after payment is received, with the lot Certificate of Analysis. Payment is 100% prepayment by SWIFT or Stripe. Specification and SDS are sent before you order, and a free evaluation sample is available for registered companies developing a product. We also offer OEM manufacturing of capsules, tablets and stick packs at our own plant in Gunma, Japan.
The producer's human studies used 100 mg of the extract per day, so one kilogram covers about 10,000 daily servings and a 500 g pouch about 5,000. The powder dissolves in water at 0.1%, 0.5% and 2.0% without thickening, because the alginate fraction is removed during production, and producer data show it is stable through heat sterilisation at 90 C. Tablets, hard and soft capsules, granules and stick packs, drinks and jellies all have production experience. The powder is brown and has a faint marine note, so check colour and flavour in clear drinks and light-coloured products.
That depends on your market, not on the ingredient. The published and producer studies examined GLP-1 secretion from an intestinal cell line, alpha-glucosidase inhibition in vitro, satiety ratings after a single 100 mg serving, body weight over eight weeks, and NK cell activity and serum cytokines over eight weeks; we send the full list of references with the specification. The wording allowed on a label is set by the regulator of your destination, and claims about weight, appetite and immunity are restricted in most markets. We describe what was studied and leave the claim wording to you and your regulatory adviser.
