Ulvan is a natural polymer from green seaweed, exhibiting a variety of biological activities.

The skin care industry has been driven by the interest by consumers in bioactive compounds from natural sources, instead of synthetic ingredients.

This has led to the development of biologically active ingredients from natural organisms, resulting into new and improved skin care products. 

Extracts from Ulva contain high levels of vitamins and essential trace minerals that detoxify the skin and help in keeping it healthy and soothed.

Ulvan acts to stimulate synthesis of collagen and elastin fibres that increase vitality and brightness of the skin, while hydrating and nourishing it.

Ulvan presents notable biological activities on cutaneous bacteria, especially towards acnes strains, which supports their potential use for dermo-cosmetic applications.

Furthermore, Ulvan represents a valuable platform for stabilizing and emulsifying agents for cosmetic applications.

For example Ulvan demonstrates versatile biological actions that are beneficial for developing biomaterials for tissue engineering, wound dressing and drug delivery applications.

Wound dressings that can exert a therapeutic effect on the inflammatory and proliferative stages of wound healing are preferable for chronic and difficult wound healing in diabetic patients. 

Ulvan can form hydrogels through ionic crosslinking with boric acid, wherein the hydroxyl groups of rhamnose and uronic acid in the ulvan polysaccharide associate with borate via hydrogen bonding.

Ulva polysaccharides, owing to their special structures and various functions, have emerged as desirable materials for keeping healthy.

Ulvan is a promising bioactive substance, a functional food, which can regulate immune cells to augment inflammation, control the activity of aging-related genes, promote tumor senescence, enhance mitochondrial function, maintain liver balance, and protect the gut microbiome from inflammatory attacks. 

The antiviral and antibacterial action of Ulvan is of paramount importance in the scenario of emerging viral and bacterial diseases. 

Ulvan represents a valuable platform of functional and bioactive compounds with promising properties as stabilizing and emulsifying agents for food applications.

Given the desirable physiochemical and gelling properties of Ulvan, it serves to improve the quality and shelf-life of food.

There is a growing demand for the development of films and coatings from renewable, eco-friendly and low-cost natural resources to substitute synthetic petroleum-based plastics and reduce their accumulation in the environment. 

These films and coatings are generally regard as safe and more importantly they are biodegradable and can be used for food and non-food packaging applications. 

The use of edible films plays an important role in extending the shelf life of food products by preventing moisture loss, light deterioration, oxidative rancidity and microbial spoilage.

Natural and edible films or coatings that are made from algal polysaccharides have become promising candidates for replacing plastic-based packaging materials for food storage due to their non-toxic, biodegradable, biocompatible, and bioactive characteristics. 

Ulvan, a significant biopolymer with unique functional properties derived from marine green algae, has been extensively used in various sectors.  Ulvan-based edible films and coatings also have potential applications in the food packaging industry.