Table 3.

Principal studies investigating the potential use of brown seaweeds as functional food ingredients to improve MS.

Functional Food	Functional Ingredient	Observed Effect	Refs.
Meat-Based Products
Low-salt pork emulsion systems	5.6% dry matter H. elongata or U. pinnatifida	Increase in n-3 PUFA content.	[132]
		Improvement of n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio and thrombogenic index.
		Increased concentrations of K, Ca, Mg, and Mn.
		Increase in antioxidant capacity.
Restructured pork meat	5% powder H. elongata or U. pinnatifida	Modification of lipogenic/lipolytic enzyme expression:	[133,134,135]
		Downregulation of acetyl fatty acid synthase (FAS) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) and upregulation of CoA carboxylase (ACC).
		Decrease in caspase-3 activity.
		Improvement of the hepatic antioxidant status, increasing total and reduced glutathione and gene expression of CYP7A1, GR, and Cu,Zn-SOD and decreasing the redox index.
		Decrease cholesterol plasma level in rat models of hypercholesterolemia.
Pork/chicken patties	L. japonica (replacing pork/chicken in equal amount)	Decrease in postprandial glucose blood levels in borderline-hypercholesterolemic patients.	[136]
Frankfurters	5.5% H. elongata	Aid in the maintenance of normal blood pressure due to the reduced sodium content.	[137,138]
		Improvement of n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio and the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol levels due to the replacement of saturated fats with unsaturated, with at least 70% of the fatty acids
		Contribution of EPA and DHA to the maintenance of normal function of the heart.
Turkey meat sausages	Fucoxanthin from C. barbata	Improvement of antioxidant activity.	[139]
		ACE inhibition.
Grain-Based Products
Bread	8% (w/w) H. elongata and U. pinnatifida	Improvement of antioxidant activity in DPPH, ORAC, and TEAC assays.	[140]
Bread	4% A. nodosum	Decrease in energy intake after meal.	[141]
Pasta	10% U. pinnatifida	Improvement of amino acid, fatty acid profile, and nutritional value.	[142]
Functional snacks	1/5 combination of U. pinnatifida and Ceratonia siliqua L.	In vitro TG-lowering effect and downregulation of DGAT2.	[143]
		Anti-hypertensive effect in rats with MS.