A LUXURIANT GARDEN BENEATH THE SEA SURFACE

Very different uses have been made of seaweed in the traditions of different peoples. The ancient Greeks used to spread it as fertiliser, the Cretans used it for dying and the Romans for animal feed.
In Norway, Ascophyllum nodosum has been used since time immemorial as fertiliser and animal feed.
Nowadays they chew seaweed like tobacco in Island, in Norway it is put to human use, in Great Britain it is distilled to obtain brandy, in France it is enjoyed as dessert while the Japanese eat it raw, boiled or dried.
For millions of years, the minerals washed away from the earth’s surface by the rains have flowed into the waters of the oceans.
This is why seaweed is a rich source of minerals, trace elements and other nutritious substances.
Different types of seaweed are harvested on all the continents but their main use is in the form of alginates.

THE BEST BROWN SEAWEED

One of the seaweeds richest in minerals and harvested for its beneficial effects is Ascophyllum nodosum.
It is big brown seaweed in the Phaeophyceae class, also known as Norwegian Kelp, Knotted Kelp, Knotted wrack or Wrack egg. It grows exclusively in the intertidal areas of the North Atlantic coasts.
Its olive coloured fronds connected by a stalk to the coastal rocks can be more than two metres in length. Many fronds grow from the base of the seaweed that generates new fronds when one of the main ones is damaged. Ascophyllum nodosum reproduces in spring and can take up to four or five years before it becomes fertile.

THE QUALITY OF ARTIC SEAWEED

Norwegian seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum grows in cold, crystal clear water withstanding both freezing in winter and full exposure to the sun in summer. Northern Norway is in fact known as the “Land of the midnight sun”. Its extreme climatic conditions mean that some chemical compositions are produced naturally in Norwegian seaweed in greater amounts than the seaweed in other parts of the world.
By using the seaweed that grows in the Arctic environment, Algea is able to provide top class products.
In fact Algea Ascophyllum nodosum, carefully harvested and processed by Algea, is the ideal ingredient for functional foodstuffs and food supplements, for cosmetics and for animal feed and fertiliser production.