View Product

BLADDERWRACK EXTRACT Product No. P0211

Also known as Fucus Sea-Wrack, Kelp-Ware, Black-Tang, Quercus marina, Cutweed, Bladder Fucus, Fucus (Varech) vesiculeux and Blasentang.

Bladderwrack is found on submerged rocks on both coasts of North America, and in Europe north of the Mediterranean, where it drifts in from time to time through the Strait of Gibraltar.

The perennial frond is erect, coarse, light yellow or brownish-green in colour and 2 - 3 feet in height. It is almost fan-shaped, narrow and strap-shaped at the base, the rest flat and leaf-like in form, and it has a tough, leathery texture. It attaches itself to the rocks by branched, root-like, woody extremities, developed from the base of the stalk. The globules are swollen receptacles, filled with a transparent mucous. These grow to an inch in length and are situated at the ends of the divisions of the fronds.

The entire living plant is gathered from the rocks about the end of June and dried rapidly in the sun, when it becomes brittle and may be easily reduced to a coarse powder. If dried by artificial heat, it retains its hygroscopic qualities and does not become brittle. It is in perfect condition only during early and middle summer, and is not collected when too fully matured, as it quickly undergoes decomposition. When thrown up on the shore by the sea, the seaweed is not suitable for medicinal purposes, as the soaking of the detached plants in sea-water causes the loss of important constituents by diffusion from cells containing protoplasm which has lost its vitality. The dried mass of root, stem and leaves are all used for medicinal purposes.

As found in commerce, the drug Fucus is hard and brittle, forming a blackish, wrinkled mass, and acquiring a cartilaginous consistency when slightly moistened. It has a strong, characteristic, seaweed-like odour and a saline, mucilaginous taste. Bladderwrack powder is reddish brown. Bladderwrack is a valuable manure for potatoes and other crops and is gathered for this purpose all along the British coast. It is largely used in the Channel Islands, where it is called Vraic. Here, it is used for producing the smoke for drying bacon and fish, while in the Hebrides, cheeses while drying are covered with the salty ashes. On the west coast of Ireland, driftweed is almost the only manure used for raising potatoes.

Fresh seaweed contains 20 to 40lb. of potash to the ton, and dried seaweed 60 to 230lb, so that it’s collection and use were strongly recommended to farmers while the War caused a shortage of artificial fertilisers. The seaweed is sometimes dried and burnt to ashes, then sprinkled on the ground as Kelp.

Horses, cattle and sheep have also been fed with it - during the War, the French Ministry of War experimented with regard to the value of seaweed as food for horses. A batch of twenty fed on the usual ration of oats and fodder gained eleven kilogrammes less in two months than a similar number fed on the same weight of seaweed. Another trial resulted in the cure of some sick horses fed on seaweed, while others fed on oats remained out of health.

Bladderwrack contains about 0.1% of a volatile oil, as well as cellulose, mucilage, mannite, colouring and bitter principles, soda and iodine, and bromine compounds of sodium and potassium. These saline ingredients constitute 14 - 20% of its ashes, which the dry plant yields in the proportion of 2.5 – 4%. The proportions, especially of iodine, vary according to both locality and season. They are most abundant at the end of June. It has been stated that 0.8% of a sugar named Fucose exists in dried seaweed, and that this yields an alcohol - Fucitol. The air in the vesicles consists of a considerably higher percentage of Oxygen and a lower percentage of Nitrogen than in the outer atmosphere. Kelp, or dried seaweed, was the original source of iodine, being discovered as such by Courtois in 1812. Iodine does not occur in nature in the uncombined condition, but is widely, though sparingly distributed in the form of iodides and iodates, chiefly of sodium and potassium, in seawater, some seaweeds, and various mineral and medicinal springs.

Bladderwrack is used at present mainly because of the virtues it may have being due to the iodine contained in it. It has alterative properties and is thought by some authorities to reduce obesity through stimulating the thyroid gland. In 1862 one doctor found that weight was reduced without injuring health, and used the drug with much success for this purpose. Later experiments indicated that the result was brought about by stimulation of the thyroid gland.

Sea-pod liniment is the expressed juice and decoction of fresh seaweed, used for rheumatism, and the extract, taken continuously in pills or fluid form is reputed to relieve rheumatic pains. Sea-pod essence is good for rubbing into sprains and bruises, or for applying on wet lint as a compress. For external application to enlarged or hardened glands, the bruised weed may be applied as a cold poultice.

In summary, bladderwrack is useful as an;