Page 276 - Algae

Algae and Men 259

thickening powers when boiled in water, a result of its carrageenan content. One example is its use
in making blancmange, a traditional vanilla-flavored pudding. In eastern Canada, a company is
cultivating a strain of C. crispus and marketing it in Japan as hana nori, a yellow macroalga that
resembles the more traditional Japanese nori that is in limited supply from natural resources
because of overharvesting and pollution. First introduced to the Japanese market in 1996, the
dried product, to be reconstituted by the user, was reported to be selling well at the end of 1999,
with forecasts of a market valued at tens of millions of U.S. dollars. It is used in macroalgae
salads, sushimi garnishes, and as a soup ingredient.
Fresh Gracilaria (Florideophyceae) has been collected and sold as a salad vegetable in Hawaii
(USA) for several decades. It is known as Ogo, ogonori,or sea moss. The mixture of ethnic groups
in Hawaii (Hawaiians, Filipinos, Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese) creates an unusual demand and
supply has at times been limited by the stocks available from natural sources. Now it is being suc-
cessfully cultivated in Hawaii using an aerated tank system, producing up to 6 tons fresh weight per
week. Limu manauea and limu ogo are both sold as fresh vegetables, the latter usually mixed with
raw fish. In Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam, species of Gracilaria are collected by
coastal people for food. In southern Thailand, an education programme was undertaken to show
people how it could be used to make jellies by boiling and making use of the extracted agar.
In the West Indies, Gracilaria is sold in markets as “sea moss”; it is reputed to have aphrodisiac
properties and is also used as a base for a non-alcoholic drink. Gracilaria sp. contains (wet
weight basis): 6.9 +0.1% total proteins, 24.7 + 0.7% crude fiber, 3.3 + 0.2% total lipids, and
22.7 + 0.6% ash. It contains 28.5 + 0.1 mg of vitamin C per 100 g of wet biomass, 5.2 + 0.4
%mgof b-carotene per 100 g of dry weight, which corresponds to a vitamin A activity of
865 mg. According to standard classification adopted by AOAC (Association of Official Analytical
Chemists), this can be considered a very high value of vitamin A activity for a food item, which
makes Gracilaria a potential source of b-carotene for human consumption.
In Chile, the demandfor edible macroalgae has increased and Callophyllis variegata (carola) (Flor-
ideophyceae) is one of the most popular (Figure 7.4). Its consumption has risen from zero in 1995 to 84

FIGURE 7.4 Frond of Callophyllis variegata.