herb research - bladderwrack

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Fucus vesiculosus - (Bladderwrack, Kelp)

Therapeutic Actions:

* Antibiotic activity

* Anti-obesity agent, probably due to the effect on an underactive thyroid

* Diuretic

* Immunomodulatory

* Induces lymphocyte transformation

* Metabolic stimulant

* Supplies minerals and trace elements like iodine, in the form of

inorganic salts or bound to proteins and lipids

Clinical Indications:

* Chronic fatigue syndrome

* Hypothyroidism

* Multiple sclerosis

* Obesity associated with hypothyroidism

* Rheumatoid arthritis (external poultice)

* Any condition where fatigue is a complication

Contraindications:

* Goiter

* Graves disease

* Hyperthyroidism

* Lactation

* Pregnancy

Drug/Nutrient Interaction:

* Lithium carbonate enhances large doses of iodides found in bladderwrack

Chemical Constituents:

* Fucophorethols which are polyhydroxyoligophenylethers

* High molecular weight phlorotannin derivatives

* Iodine

* Mannitol

* Mucopolysaccharides including algin

* Mucilage

* Phenolic compounds:

Free phloroglucinol

Fucols

* Polar lipids

* Potassium

* Sulphuryl-, sulphonyl- and phosphonyl-glycosyl estr diglycerides

* Volatile oil

Toxicity:

* See contraindications

 

 

Bladderwrack

Botanical: Fucus vesiculosis (LINN.)

Family: N.O. Fucaceae

* Description

* Constituents

* Medicinal Action and Uses

* Dosage

* Other Species

---Synonyms---Fucus. Sea-Wrack. Kelp-Ware. Black-Tang. Quercus marina.

Cutweed. Bladder Fucus. Fucus (Varech) vesiculeux. Blasentang. Seetang.

Meeriche.

---Parts Used---The dried mass of root, stem and leaves. (The thallus.)

---Habitat---North Atlantic Ocean.

 

---Description---Almost all the more solid Algae were formerly described by

the name of Fucus, but now it is applied to one genus of Fucaceae, most of

the species of which are found only in the northern seas, many being more

or less exposed at low water. Fucus vesiculosis 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 or thallus is coarse, light yellow or brownish-green in

colour, erect, and from 2 to 3 feet in height. It attaches itself to the

rocks by branched, rootlike, discoid, woody extremities, developed from the

base of the stalk. The frond is almost fan-shaped, narrow and strap-shaped

at the base, the rest flat and leaf-like in form, wavy, many times divided

into two with erect divisions having a very strong, broad, compressed

midrib running to the apex. The margin is entire, the texture tough and

leathery, mainly olive brown in colour, the younger portion yellower,

shining. Air vesicles developed in the substance of the frond, usually in

pairs, one on either side of the midrib and often one at the fork of the

divisions, broadly oval, or spherical, attaining when fully grown half an

inch in diameter, are the characteristics of this species which have

suggested both the English and Latin names.

The fructification is contained in small globose conceptacles with a firm

wall lined with numerous jointed hairs and sunk in the surface of large

ovoid-oblong or narrower pointed or blunt, swollen receptacles, filled with

a transparent mucous. These attain 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. Care should be taken to turn it frequently, to

avoid the development of a putrid odour. 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 should not be

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.

As found in commerce, the drug Fucus is hard and brittle, forming a much

wrinkled mass, blackish or with more or less of a whitish efflorescence or

incrustation, but it acquires a cartilaginous consistency when slightly

moistened. It has a strong, sea-weedlike odour and a nauseous, saline and

mucilaginous taste. Occasionally, from some unexplained cause, it is very

astringent. The powder is reddish brown, with numerous fragments of

epidermal tissue, with polygonal cells from 0.012 to 0.025 mm. in length.

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, the early potatoes from

Jersey being grown by seaweed manure. Fresh seaweed contains 20 to 40 lb.

of potash to the ton, and dried seaweed 60 to 230, so that its collection

and use were strongly recommended to farmers while the War caused a

shortage of artificial fertilizers. It may be spread on the land and left

for some time before ploughing in, but should not be left in heaps, as

rotting liberates the potash which may be wasted. The seaweed may be dried

and burnt to ashes, then sprinkled on the ground as Kelp.

The early broccoli from Cornwall is fertilized with wrack, and on the west

coast of Ireland, driftweed is almost the only manure used for raising

potatoes. In the Channel Islands 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, and horses, cattle and sheep have 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.

In Denmark, a few years ago, the possibility of making paper from seaweed

was mooted, but the cost of collecting probably proved too serious an

obstacle.

It is also possible that considerable quantities of alcohol might be

obtained from various species.

Many attempts have been made to make kelp-burning successful by finding a

use for by-products from destructive distillation in retorts, but the cost

of collection, drying and fuel prevents such experiments being financially

profitable. There were at one time flourishing kelp industries in the

Hebrides, and Lord Leverhulme, the owner of Lewis Isle, sent experts to

report on the possibilities, but his death and lack of official support

caused the matter to be dropped.

Kelp is prepared from several species of Fucus (including Black Wrack, F.

serratus and Knobbed Wrack, F. nodosus, and on the coast of France about a

dozen other species) and from the deep-sea tangle, Laminaria species,

especially L. digitata. The latter yield 'drift-wood kelp,' obtainable only

when cast up on the shore by gales or other causes. These contain ten times

as much iodine as the Fuci and are practically now the only kelps used in

making iodine. The species of Fucus growing within the tidal range and cut

at low water are called 'cut-weeds.'

F. vesiculosis is the badge of the M'Neills.

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---Constituents---Bladderwrack contains about 0.1 per cent. of a volatile

oil, cellulose, mucilage, mannite, colouring and bitter principles, soda

and iodine, and bromine compounds of sodium and potassium. These saline

ingredients constitute 14 to 20 per cent. of its ashes, which the dry plant

yields in the proportion of 2.5 to 4 per cent., and also remain in the

charcoal resulting from its exposure to heat in closed vessels. 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 per cent. 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. Its value as a fertilizer is due to its

potash.

One hundred pounds of red wrack, dried to a moisture content of 10 per

cent., when heated for a short time with weak sulphuric acid and the

acidity still further reduced after cooling, may be fermented with brewers'

yeast and is then capable of yielding about 6 litres of alcohol on

distillation. It is alleged that under industrial conditions this amount

might be increased.

Kelp, or dried seaweed, was the original source of iodine, being discovered

as such by Courtois in 1812, when investigating the products obtained from

the mother-liquors prepared by lixiviating burnt seaweed. 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.

Kelp-burning as a source of iodine is a dead industry, owing to a cheaper

process of obtaining it from the mother-liquors obtained in the

purification of Chile saltpetre, and the use of kelp - an impure carbonate

of soda, containing sulphate and chloride of sodium and a little charcoal -

as a source of alkalies for soap and glass manufacture has been rendered

obsolete by the modern process of obtaining carbonate of soda cheaply from

common salt. Unless very recently discontinued, however, the preparation of

iodine from kelp is still carried on at Glasgow.

Several methods were employed: (1) the weeds being dried in the sun, burned

until formed into a confused mass, and sprinkled with water to break it up

into pieces which were treated at chemical works; or (2) the seaweed was

heated in large retorts, whereby tarry and ammoniacal liquors pass over and

a very porous residue of kelp remained; or (3) the weeds were boiled with

sodium carbonate, the liquid filtered and hydrochloric acid added to the

filtrate, when alginic acid is precipitated; this is filtered off, the

filtrate neutralized by caustic soda and the whole evaporated to dryness

and carbonized.

The resulting kelp was then lixiviated with water, which extracts the

soluble salts, and the liquid concentrated to crystallize the less soluble

salts for removal. The addition of sulphuric acid set chemical processes in

action, which finally liberated the iodine from its compounds.

Three tons of Tangle (Laminaria) give a ton of kelp, or 20 tons of

cut-weed, or Fucus.

Good drift may yield as much as 10 to 15 lb. of iodine per ton, and

cut-weed kelp only 3 to 4 lb. Other constituents vary from 2 to 10 per

cent. in different samples.

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---Medicinal Action and Uses---Bladderwrack is not largely used at present,

any virtues it may have being due to the iodine contained in it. It has

alterative properties, has been used in scrofula, and is thought by some

authorities to reduce obesity through stimulating the thyroid gland.

The charcoal derived from Kelp has been used in the treatment of goitre and

scrofulous swellings under the name of AEthiops vegetabilis or vegetable

ethiops, introduced by Dr. Russell in 1750, who also used a jelly for

similar purposes, both internally and externally. He was also successful in

dispersing scrofulous tumours by rubbing in the mucus of the vesicles of

Bladderwrack, afterwards washing the parts with sea-water. The charcoal was

also helpful in goitre. The iodine from other sources led to the neglect of

kelp products.

In 1862 Dr. Duchesne-Duparc found while experimenting in cases of chronic

psoriasis, that weight was reduced without injuring health, and used the

drug with success for the latter purpose. Dr. Godfroy experimented on

himself, losing five and a quarter pounds in a week after taking before

three meals a day an extract made into pills containing 25 grams (3.75

grains). The bromine and iodine stimulated the absorbent glands to

increased activity, without causing an atrophied wasting of the glands.

Later experiments of Hunt and Seidell indicated that the result is brought

about by stimulation of the thyroid gland.

Sea-pod liniment, is the expressed juice and decoction of fresh seaweed as

dispensed by sea-side chemists for rheumatism, and the extract, taken

continuously in pills or fluid form is reputed to relieve rheumatic pains

as well as to diminish fat without harm.

Sea-pod essence is good for rubbing into sprains and bruises, or for

applying on wet lint under oiled silk, as a compress, changed as often as

hot or dry. It may be preceded by fomentations of the hot decoction.

Embrocation for strengthening the limbs of rickety children can be made

from the glutinous substance of the vesicles, bottled in rum.

Fucus or Seaweed wine, from grapes and dried Fucus, has been praised as a

remedy in diseases of the hip and other joints and bones in children.

For external application to enlarged or hardened glands, the bruised weed

may be applied as a cold poultice.

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---Dosage---Of charcoal, 10 grains to 2 drachms.

Of extract, 3 to 10 grains, in pills, massed with powdered Liquorice or

Marshmallow roots, to reduce swelling and obesity.

Of liquid extract, 1 to 2 fluid drachms. It is the basis of many advertised

nostrums. Sodium and potassium iodides are often added to supplement the

small proportion of iodine. It is used in mixture form, generally with

alkali iodides and sometimes in combination with Liquor Thyroidei.

Of decoction, 2 fluid ounces, three times daily.

Of infusion, 1 wineglassful.

Solid extract may be dissolved in diluted alcohol and mixed with syrup.

(All doses for combating obesity are gradually increased.)

Of fluid extract, 10 minims.

The Alginic acid obtained from seaweed is used to form an organic compound

with iron, which is sold under the trade name of Algiron or Alginoid Iron.

It contains about 11 per cent. of iron and is given in doses of 2 to 10

decigrams (3 to 15 grains).

Fucol is a trade name for a cod-liver oil substitute, said to be obtained

from roasted Bladderwrack with a bland oil. It is green in colour, and

resembles coffee in odour and taste.

Fucusin tablets are recommended in obesity.

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---Other Species---

F. nodosus the Knobbed Wrack, has anarrower thallus, without a midrib and

single vesicles.

F. serratus, the Black Wrack, has a veined and serrate frond, without

vesicles . Both contain the same constituents as Bladderwrack.

F. serratus has been much used in Norway for feeding cattle, being called

there 'cowweed.' Linnaeus stated that in Gothland the inhabitants boiled it

with water, mixed it with a little coarse meal or flour, and fed their hogs

with it, for which reason they called the plant 'Swine-tang.' In Sweden the

poor people covered their cottages with it and sometimes used it for fuel.

F. siliquosus has a very narrow frond, with short branches and articulated

vesicles of a pod-like appearance.

This and the two preceding species are permitted by the French Codex to be

employed in the place of F. vesiculosis.

F. natans (Sargassum bacciferum) is the Gulf-weed of the Atlantic Ocean and

is often found in immense masses floating in the sea.

The frond is terrate and has linear and serrate branches and globular

vesicles of the size of a pea.

F. vesiculosis was reputed to be the Antipolyscarcique nostrum of Count

Mattei.

F. canaliculatus is remarkable for its amphibious habits, growing on large

boulders and recovering after being baked by the sun into hard brown

masses.

F. amylaceus, or Ceylon Moss, abounding in starch and vegetable jelly, is

used like carrageen, or Irish moss.

F. Helminthocorton (Corsican Moss or Gigartina Helminthocorton) is regarded

in Europe as an anthelmintic and febrifuge. It is an ingredient in the

trade mixture called Corsican Moss, used in decoction of from 4 to 6

drachms to a pint, the dose being 1 wineglassful three times a day.

Another seaweed, Agar-agar, of the East Indies, is sent to China in large

quantities for making jellies and for a size used in stiffening silks. An

aperient medicine is known by its name. (American.)

Laminaria digitata, sea-girdles or tangles, of Scotland, gives a good

substance for bougies. The stems are strong and tenacious, from 2 to 12

inches long and an inch or more wide, drying easily with much shrinkage and

becoming firm, only slightly softer than horn, and yet elastic. It may be

kept thus for years, and will absorb moisture at any time and swell to the

original size, thus being valuable for dilating bougies and tents.

The Laminariaceae species are very remarkable in many ways. L. digitata, L.

stenophylla, and L. saccharina are the principal ones associated with the

kelp industry.

F. crispus is a name of Chondrus crispus or Gigartina mamillosa (Irish Moss

or Carrageen) of European coasts, well known as a demulcent. Dosage, 4

drachms.