European aquaculture of sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) for food industries: iodine content and epiphytic animals as major problems

Klaus Lüning; Leiv Mortensen

doi:10.1515/bot-2015-0036

Article

European aquaculture of sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) for food industries: iodine content and epiphytic animals as major problems

Klaus Lüning
Klaus Lüning is Emeritus Professor of Botany at Hamburg University. He has worked on photomorphogenesis, biological rhythms and biogeography of seaweeds. He is author of the textbook Meeresbotanik on biogeography and ecophysiology of seaweeds (1985), translated as Seaweeds – Their Environment, Biogeography and Ecophysiology (1990). In 2006 he founded the company Sylter Algenfarm GmbH & Co.KG, with the objective targets to cultivate and sell seaweed for food and other industrial purposes.
and Leiv Mortensen
Leiv Mortensen (NMBU, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway) works on use of microalgae for biomass production and nutrient removal using flue gas from power plants, and also on agricultural plant aspects in greenhouses. Recently he turned to kelp cultivation in the Lysefjord near Stavanger and headed the project DYMALYS (2011–2014).

Published/Copyright: November 19, 2015

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From the journal Botanica Marina Volume 58 Issue 6

Abstract

There is little use of cultivated kelp including Saccharina latissima (syn. Laminaria saccharina) in the European food industry, in contrast to the extensive use of Pyropia (syn. Porphyra) as Nori, e.g. in sushi restaurants. A major reason for this discrepancy is possibly the extremely high iodine content in laminarian species, i.e. 3–10 g I kg^-1 dry weight, in contrast to the situation in Pyropia with its approximately 10 times lower iodine content. Another serious problem for commercial use of S. latissima from rope culture for food is the presence of epiphytic animals on the blades from May onwards as an unwanted food addition. This investigation presents data on iodine content in commercial samples of S. latissima, with indications of lower iodine values from rope cultivation in the Kattegat (Baltic) at reduced salinities, and in general from tank cultivation, possibly mainly due to rapid iodine depletion of seawater in the tanks. Boiling dried blades for several minutes in fresh water resulted in a reduction of the iodine content to approximately one third of the initial value after 2 min. Results from rope cultures in a Norwegian fjord showed the presence of epiphytic animals from early May onwards in the sea, which ruined the food quality of the blades, but the complete absence of such animals throughout the year in parallel tank-grown S. latissima, probably mainly due to mechanical prevention of larval settlement in tank tumble culture.

Keywords: aquaculture; epiphytic animals; iodine content; Saccharina; sugar kelp

Corresponding author: Klaus Lüning, Sylter Algenfarm GmbH & Co. KG, Mannemorsumtal 27, 25992 List, Germany, e-mail: klausluening@t-online.de

About the authors

Klaus Lüning

Klaus Lüning is Emeritus Professor of Botany at Hamburg University. He has worked on photomorphogenesis, biological rhythms and biogeography of seaweeds. He is author of the textbook Meeresbotanik on biogeography and ecophysiology of seaweeds (1985), translated as Seaweeds – Their Environment, Biogeography and Ecophysiology (1990). In 2006 he founded the company Sylter Algenfarm GmbH & Co.KG, with the objective targets to cultivate and sell seaweed for food and other industrial purposes.

Leiv Mortensen

Leiv Mortensen (NMBU, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway) works on use of microalgae for biomass production and nutrient removal using flue gas from power plants, and also on agricultural plant aspects in greenhouses. Recently he turned to kelp cultivation in the Lysefjord near Stavanger and headed the project DYMALYS (2011–2014).

Acknowledgments

The work in Norway was conducted as a part of the project DYMALYS headed by Blue Planet (Rogaland, Norway). Thanks go to Rogaland county, Ryfylkefondet, Lerøy seafood group and Ewos Innovation for their valuable economical as well as other support to the project.

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Article note:

Research presented at the 4th Nordic Seaweed Conference, Grenaa, Denmark, October 8–9, 2014.

Received: 2015-6-3

Accepted: 2015-10-22

Published Online: 2015-11-19

Published in Print: 2015-12-1

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2015-0036

Keywords for this article

aquaculture; epiphytic animals; iodine content; Saccharina; sugar kelp