Bladder wrack

Bladder Wrack

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Bladder wrack

Fucus vesiculosus, known by the common name Bladder wrack, is a seaweed

Seaweed

Seaweed is a loose colloquial term encompassing macroscopic, multicellular, benthos ocean algae. The term includes some members of the rhodophyta, phycophyta and green algae....
found on the coasts of the North Sea

North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
, the western Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53?N to 66?N latitude and from 20?E to 26?E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Denmark islands....
, and the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
and Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
s, also known by the common names black tang, rockweed, bladder Fucus, sea oak, black tany, cut weed and rock wrack. It was the original source of iodine

Iodine

Iodine , is a chemical element that has the symbol I and atomic number 53. Naturally-occurring iodine is a single isotope with 74 neutrons....
, discovered in 1811, and was used extensively to treat goitre

Goitre

A goitre , or goiter , also called a bronchocele, is a swelling in the neck due to an enlarged thyroid....
, a swelling of the thyroid gland related to iodine deficiency

Iodine deficiency

Iodine is an essential trace element; the thyroid hormones thyroxine and triiodotyronine contain iodine. In areas where there is little iodine in the diet—typically remote inland...
.

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Encyclopedia

Fucus vesiculosus, known by the common name Bladder wrack, is a seaweed

Seaweed

North Sea

Baltic Sea

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Iodine

Goitre

A goitre , or goiter , also called a bronchocele, is a swelling in the neck due to an enlarged thyroid....
, a swelling of the thyroid gland related to iodine deficiency

Iodine deficiency

Iodine is an essential trace element; the thyroid hormones thyroxine and triiodotyronine contain iodine. In areas where there is little iodine in the diet—typically remote inland...
. In the 1860s, it was claimed that bladder wrack, as a thyroid stimulant

Stimulant

Stimulant drugs are drugs that temporarily increase alertness and awareness. They usually have increased side-effects with increased effectiveness, and the more powerful variants are therefore often prescription medicines or illegal drugs....
, could counter obesity

Obesity

Obesity is a condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to an extent that health may be negatively affected. It is commonly defined as a body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher....
by increasing the metabolic rate and, since then, it has been featured in numerous weight-loss

Weight loss

Weight loss, in the context of medicine or health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body weight, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue....
remedies.

Distribution

Fucus vesiculosus is one of the most common algae on the shores of the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain and Ireland, and numerous smaller islands....
. It is recorded from the Atlantic shores of Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, Northern Russia, the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

Greenland

Greenland is a member country of the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago....
, Azores

Azores

The Azores is a Portugal archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,500 km from Lisbon and about 3,900 km from the east coast of North America....
, Canary Islands

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are a Spain archipelago which, in turn, forms one of the Spanish Autonomous Communities and an Outermost Region of the European Union....
, Morocco and Madeira

Madeira

Madeira is a Portugal archipelago in the north Atlantic Ocean that lies between and . It is one of the Autonomous regions of Portugal, with Madeira Island and Porto Santo Island being the only inhabited islands....
. On the Atlantic coast of North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
from Ellesmere Island

Ellesmere Island

Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canada territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada....
, Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay is a large , relatively shallow body of water in northeastern Canada. It is approximately 850 miles long and 650 miles wide. It drains a very large area that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana, and the southeastern area of Nunavut...
to North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
.

Description

Fucus vesiculosus is a very variable alga. It can grow to 100 cm or more and is easily recognised by the small gas–filled vesicles which occur in pairs one on either side of a central midrib running along the centre of the strap-like frond. Ascophyllum nodosum also has air vesicles, but rather than being paired, they are arranged in series along a frond which is not flattened and without a midrib. Both are common species on many shores of the British Isles.

The large brown algae have similar life cycles. At maturity the reproductive bodies form in conceptacles sunken in receptacles produced towards the tips on the branches. In these conceptacles oogonia

Oogonium

An oogonium is an immature ovum. It is a female gametogonium. They are formed in large numbers by mitosis early in fetus life from germ cells, which are present in the fetus between weeks 4 and 8....
and antheridia

Antheridium

An antheridium is a haploid structure or organ producing and containing male gametes . It is present in the gametophyte phase of lower plants like mosses and ferns, and also in the primitive vascular Psilotophyta....
are produced and after meiosis

Meiosis

In biology or life science, meiosis is a process of reductional division in which the number of chromosomes per cell is halved. In animals, meiosis always results in the formation of gametes, while in other organisms it can give rise to spores....
they are released. After fertilisation

Fertilisation

Fertilisation , is the fusion of gametes to produce a new organism. In animals, the process involves a sperm fusing with an ovum, which eventually leads to the development of an embryo....
, the zygote

Zygote

A zygote is a cell that is the result of fertilization. That is, two ploidy cells—usually an ovum from a female and a sperm cell from a male—merge into a single ploidy cell called the zygote ....
develops, settles and grows to form the diploid sporophyte

Sporophyte

All land plants, and some algae, have life cycles in which a haploid gametophyte generation alternates with a diploid sporophyte, the generation of a plant or alga that has a double set of chromosomes....
plant.

The large vegetative phase is diploid and gametophytic

Gametophyte

In plants and algae that undergo alternation of generations, a gametophyte is the multicellular structure, or phase, that is haploid, containing a single set of chromosomes:...
. Meiosis occurs during the formation of the gamete

Gamete

A gamete is a Cell that fuses with another gamete during fertilization in organisms that sexual reproduction. In species which produce two morphologically distinct types of gametes, and in which each individual produces only one type, a female is any individual which produces the larger type of gamete?called an ovum ?and a male produces th...
s. The egg cells

Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
are formed on the female plants in conceptacle

Conceptacle

Conceptacles are specialised cavities of marine algae that contain the reproductive organs. They are situated in the receptacles and open by a small ostiole....
s embedded in receptacles. The spermatozoids and egg cells are extruded from the conceptacles. Once fertilised, the zygote settles and grows to form the new diploid gametophyte.

Ecology

The species is common especially on sheltered shores from the middle littoral to lower intertidal levels. It is rare on exposed shores where any specimens may be short, stunted and without the air vesicles.

Consumption

A common food in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, bladder wrack is used as an additive and flavouring in various food products in Europe. Bladder wrack is commonly found as a component of kelp tablets or powders used as nutritional supplements. It is sometimes loosely called "kelp

Kelp

Kelp are large seaweed plants , belonging to the brown algae and classified in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genus. Some species can be very long and form kelp forests....
", but that term technically refers to a different seaweed.

Primary chemical constituents of this plant include mucilage

Mucilage

Mucilage is a chemical polarity glycoprotein; an polysaccharide; a polymer produced by most plants and some microorganisms.It occurs in various parts of nearly all classes of plant, usually in relatively small percentages, and is frequently associated with other substances, such as tannins and alkaloids....
, algin, mannitol

Mannitol

Mannitol is an organic compound with the formula . This polyol is used as an osmosis diuretic agent and a weak kidney vasodilator. It was originally isolated from the secretions of the flowering ash, called manna after their resemblance to the Biblical food, and is also be referred to as mannite and manna sugar....
, beta-carotene

Beta-carotene

?-Carotene is an organic compound - a terpenoid, a red-orange pigment abundant in plants and fruits. As a carotene with ?-rings at both ends, it is the most common form of carotene....
, zeaxanthin

Zeaxanthin

Zeaxanthin is one of the two carotenoids contained within the retina of the eye. Within the central macula, zeaxanthin is the dominant component, whereas in the peripheral retina, lutein predominates....
, iodine

Iodine

Iodine , is a chemical element that has the symbol I and atomic number 53. Naturally-occurring iodine is a single isotope with 74 neutrons....
, bromine

Bromine

Bromine , , meaning "stench " ), is a chemical element with the symbol Br and atomic number 35. A halogen element, bromine is a reddish-brown Volatility liquid at Standard conditions for temperature and pressure that is intermediate in reactivity between chlorine and iodine....
, potassium

Potassium

Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
, volatile oils, and many other mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
s. The main use of bladder wrack (and other types of seaweed) in herbal medicine is as a source of iodine, an essential nutrient for the thyroid gland. Bladder wrack has proved most useful in the treatment of underactive thyroid glands (hypothyroidism) and goitre

Goitre

A goitre , or goiter , also called a bronchocele, is a swelling in the neck due to an enlarged thyroid....
. Through the regulation of thyroid function, there is an improvement in all the associated symptoms. It has a reputation in helping the relief of rheumatism

Rheumatism

Rheumatism or Rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the heart, bones, joints, kidney, skin and lung. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology....
and rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic disease inflammation that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks the joints producing a inflammatory synovitis that often progresses to destruction of the articular cartilage and ankylosis of the joints....
, both used internally and as an external application upon inflamed joints. A chemical constituent of bladder wrack called alginic acid

Alginic acid

Alginic acid, also called algin or alginate, is a viscous natural gum that is abundant in the cell walls of brown algae. It ranges from white to yellowish-brown, and takes filamentous, granular and powdered forms....
swells upon contact with water; when taken orally, it forms a type of "seal" at the top of the stomach, and for this reason is used in several over-the-counter preparations for heartburn

Heartburn

Heartburn or pyrosis is a painful and burning sensation in the esophagus, just below the Sternum usually associated with regurgitation of gastric acid....
. The same constituent gives bladder wrack laxative

Laxative

Laxatives are foods, compounds, or drugs taken to induce bowel movements or to loosen the stool, most often taken to treat constipation. Certain stimulant, lubricant, and saline laxatives are used to evacuate the Colon for rectum and bowel examinations, and may be supplemented by enemas in that circumstance....
properties as well. Other proposed uses of bladder wrack include treating atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a syndrome affecting artery blood vessels. It is a chronic inflammatory response in the walls of arteries, in large part due to the accumulation of macrophage white blood cells and promoted by low density lipoproteins without adequate removal of fats and cholesterol from the macrophages by functional high density lipoprot...
and strengthening immunity

Immunity (medical)

Immunity is a medical term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion....
, although there is no scientific evidence at present that it works for these purposes.

Bladder wrack should not be used in cases of hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism is the term for overactive tissue within the thyroid gland,resulting in overproduction and thus an excess of circulating free thyroid hormones: thyroxine , triiodothyronine , or both....
or cardiac problems, or during pregnancy

Pregnancy

Pregnancy is the carrying of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, inside the uterus of a female. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or Multiple birth....
and lactation

Lactation

Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands, the process of providing that milk to the young, and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young....
. Excessive dosage (many times the recommended dosage) may lead to hyperthyroidism, tremor

Tremor

Tremor is an unintentional, somewhat rhythmic, muscle movement involving to-and-fro movements of one or more body parts. It is the most common of all involuntary movements and can affect the hands, arms, head, face, vocal cords, trunk, and legs....
, increased pulse rate and elevated blood pressure

Blood pressure

Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels, and constitutes one of the principal vital signs. The pressure of the circulating blood decreases as it moves away from the heart through artery and capillary, and toward the heart through veins....
.

Les Stroud

Les Stroud

Les Stroud is a Canada musician, film maker, and Survivalism best known as the host of the television program Survivorman. After a short career behind the scenes in the music industry, Stroud became a full-time wilderness guide, survival instructor and musician based in Huntsville, Ontario....
ate bladder wrack when he stayed in Alaska for an episode of Survivorman

Survivorman

Survivorman is a Canadian-produced television program, broadcast in Canada on the OLN , and in the United States and internationally on Discovery Channel and Science Channel....
.

Bladder wrack

Distribution

Description

Ecology

Consumption

See also

External links