Marealis: peptides harvested from discarded prawn shells help fight high blood pressure

Marealis
Type of organisation or company
Country
EU
Other
Norway
Language for original content
Scope
Submitted by
Technopolis Group
Ongoing
Yes
Description

In the cold-water prawn industry, 60 per cent of the prawn is usually discarded as waste, of which one third is drained as processing water.

But research conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Fishery Science (Nofima) showed that peptides from arctic cold water shrimp (Pandalus Borealis) have an effective angiotensin converting-enzyme (ACE) - a cause for high blood pressure - inhibiting effect.

Based on this research, Marealis, founded by Stella Polaris, uses discarded prawn shells from the seafood industry to make a natural supplement that can lower blood pressure. Marealis has developed a patented process and novel ACE-inhibiting peptide product – Marealis RSPC.

Marealis RSPC is derived by a controlled enzymatic hydrolysis of shell fractions from the arctic cold water shrimp, further refined into a peptide concentrate in powder form by the company’s proprietary process, for use in natural health products and supplements, with documented antihypertensive effect.

Main results
  • Development of the world’s first bioactive marine peptides clinically proven to lower blood pressure
  • Valorisation of a food industry waste product (Creating value from the whole prawn) into a natural supplement that has good results in reducing blood pressure with no recorded side effects