Cookbooks incorporating recipes with “sea vegetables” are on the market in many countries around the world. On the east coast of the United States of America and Canada, some companies have begun to grow seaweed specifically for human consumption, and their markets are growing, both in those two countries and their exports to Japan. In Brittany, dulse and kombu are used to make the bara mor or “bread of the sea,” and minced seaweed in butter (beurre des algues) is used for cooking fish or spreading on bread to accompany shellfish. In fact, in Austria and Germany, seaweeds are being used to produce a highly prized bread-algenbrot, a blend of cereals whose composition is up to 3% seaweed. It has gained more acceptance in regions such as California and Hawaii, where Japanese communities are larger, and the taste for seaweed is spreading to the surrounding population as it is found in restaurant dishes and on supermarket menus.

In recent years, there has been a strong movement in France to introduce seaweed into European cuisine, with some success, although it is still considered an exotic component of the menu. The migration of the people from these countries around the world has meant that this custom has moved with them, so today, there are many more countries where seaweed consumption is not unusual. Therefore, algae can be considered as a natural source of great interest, since they contain compounds with numerous biological activities and can be used as a functional ingredient in many technological applications to obtain functional foods.įor several centuries, there has been a traditional use of seaweed as food in China, Japan, and Korea, as well as in some Latin American countries such as Mexico. In addition, there are several secondary metabolites that are synthesized by algae such as terpenoids, oxylipins, phlorotannins, volatile hydrocarbons, and products of mixed biogenetic origin. If seaweeds are compared to terrestrial plants, they have a higher proportion of essential fatty acids as eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) fatty acids.

Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic properties are attributed to these compounds.

Polyphenols, polysaccharides, and sterols, as well as other bioactive molecules, are mainly responsible for the healthy properties associated with seaweed. Seaweeds are a good source of nutrients such as proteins, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. Seaweeds have been used since ancient times as food, mainly by Asian countries, while in Western countries, their main application has been as gelling agents and colloids for the food, pharmaceuticals, and the cosmetic industry.

Guso seaweed in english