According to the National University of Singapore's (NUS), its team of food scientists is partnering with a local food manufacturer called Y G C Group (S) Pte Ltd to launch its new healthy and tasty seaweed drink. The range of beverages and food products which are a seaweed drink came from eucheuma, a species of seaweed that is associated with various health benefits.
The first commercial product - a eucheuma-based bottled drinks range that has no chemical additives, added sugar and preservatives - is expected to be available for sale online by end March 2016. The other significant and functional aspect of development, NUS Team also had to stabilize the seaweed drink in ensuring that the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the drinks so as to enhance their appeal to consumers. NUS food scientists came up with a novel method that makes use of natural food ingredients to interact with the ingredients in the beverages to stabilize and make them tasty at the same time, without adding any artificial additives.
The Straits Time reported that Science faculty and the YGC Group Singapore have collaborated on this new drink made with eucheuma, a type of seaweed found commonly in Southeast Asian seafloors. This specie, eucheuma is a fast-growing, low-cost crop exported primarily by the Philippines and China. It is low in calories and high in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and minerals such as calcium and potassium. Its consumption has been linked to lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels. The drink, which will go on sale at the end of March exclusively on YGC Group's official website, contains no chemical additives, sugar or preservatives. It will come in six different flavours, including goji and red dates.
The partners NUS and Y G C Group are very excited of this innovative collaboration, especially that the results of the initial market testing of the new eucheuma-based beverages have been proven to be positive. Y G C Group has also received requests to distribute the product in Singapore, as well as overseas such as mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea.
