A biomass and distribution assessment should be carried out on the country's brown seaweeds (sargassum) as part of a plan to market this Philippine-indigenous seaweed variety which has anti-cancer properties and has a huge market in light of the health and wellness consumerism.

While seaweeds are known to be massively grown in the Philippines being the world's largest supplier of seaweeds totalling to as much as 80 percent, a deliberate effort to plan its commercialization is necessary so that this can bring about employment, rural income, and foreign exchange earnings in the country.

The Philippines should also provide a scientific basis for its claims even if other countries like Japan and Korea already have evidences for their own pharmaceutical claims for seaweeds.

"(There is a need) to assess the biochemical profile of available sargassum in the country and assess the potential use of crude extracts, pigments, and polysaccharides for mariculture applications," according to Marine Science Institute's (MSI) Dr. Marco Nemesio E. Montano.

Entrepreneurs are interested in the marketing of Philippine-based natural products, particularly brown seaweeds and malunggay, and would like to seek assistance from government on resources for this. "Please include networking, educational programs, funding, and marketing resources (in the natural products program)," said Bernadette E. Arellano, managing director of SBE Farms Enterprises.

The country should likewise enhance its natural products program through improvement on packaging and labels and investment promotion for production and processing of seaweeds specially as a shortage of seaweeds has already been observed.

"Basic information on packaging fitted for the dosage form will be part of the formulation process. However the design and label of products are marketing (and advertising) functions," said drug development expert Erna C. Arollado of the National Research Council of the Philippines and the Philippine Pharmacists Association.

A global shortage in seaweeds has already prompted other countries to ban their own seaweed exports, while the Philippines is left with nothing to export but raw seaweed due to its lack of commercialization plan for more processed products.

Brown seaweeds are eyed to be developed as ingredient for value-added products in the form of food supplement, drug, seaweed meal, alginic acid, fertilizer, and feeds for commercially-important fishes as they contain important compounds such as fucoidan and fucoxanthin.

Fucoidan has the ability to reduce cholesterol levels;act as an anti-tumor agent (leukemia cells), stomach cancer cells, colon cancer cells); act as a contraceptive; prevent swine flu virus contraction; and prevent shrimp viral infection.

Moreover, fucoxanthin can act as an antioxidant, prevent spread of cancer cells (neuroblastoma and colon cancer), and is a known carotenoid (antioxidant and Vitamin A-rich like beta carotene).