Where did Astaxanthin come from? We're glad you asked! Up until the 90's, astaxanthin wasn't a known thing. Believe it or not, our facility is where the original researchers and pioneers of astaxanthin for human benefit did their work.
In the mid-90s, a group of ocean minded university researchers formed a startup venture by the name of Aquasearch, who eventually would go on to become Mera Pharmaceuticals. At the time of creating Aquaseach, their objective was to tap into the vast world of micro algae including the development of salmon feed additive and clean renewable energy sources. They chose the NELHA Host Campus in Kona as the site for their pilot program for its access to pure deep sea water and year-round sunshine. They painstakingly developed the technology to grow, harvest, stabilize and extract astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis, one of 30,000 species of microalgae. Astaxanthin has potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and they quickly realized its value for human consumption due to its many health benefits. Aquasearch funded a number of studies, trials and research on astaxanthin and were the first to make it available as nutritional supplement.
Astaxanthin supplementation was quickly embraced by Hawaii’s marathon and triathlon community for its help in protecting joints, help with post workout recovery and protection from uv rays and its many anti-inflammatory qualities. One of its early enthusiastic adopters was Papa Pea, a local racing icon and multi-Ironman finisher who competed in races well into his 70s.
