Various seaweeds have traditionally been used as flavoring materials, food additives, and foodstuffs in many countries, especially those in Asia. The seaweed Laminaria japonica (LJ) is popular as "kombu" in Japanese cuisine. Laminaria sp. is one of the most important marine medicinal foodstuffs, as
We studied the effects of a natural sodium alginate (isolated from Laminaria angustata Kjellman var. longissima Miyabe, Phaeophyceae) (average molecular weight: 2700 kDa; AG-270) and three water-soluble low-molecular weight sodium alginates (average molecular weights, 10, 50 and 100 kDa; AG-1, AG 5,