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On the human consumption of the red seaweed dulse (Palmaria palmata (L.) Weber & Mohr)

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Abstract

The red seaweed dulse (Palmaria palmata) is one of the more popular seaweed species for human consumption in the Western world. With a documented historical use up to present days in Ireland, Brittany (France), Iceland, Maine (USA), and Nova Scotia (Canada), it has remained a snack, a food supplement, and an ingredient in various dishes. The trend towards more healthy and basic foodstuffs, together with an increasing interest among chefs for the seaweed cuisine, has posed the need for more quantitative knowledge about the chemical composition of dulse of relevance for human consumption. Here, we report on data for amino acid composition, fatty acid profile, vitamin K, iodine, kainic acid, inorganic arsenic, as well as for various heavy metals in samples from Denmark, Iceland, and Maine.

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Acknowledgments

Mariela Johansen is gratefully acknowledged for translation of OGM’s Danish book on seaweeds into English. Rasmus Bjerregaard (Blue Food) is thanked for supplying specimens of farmed dulse. Shep Erhard (Maine Coast Sea Vegetables) has generously made information available regarding chemical composition of dulse from Maine and provided samples for analysis. Símon Sturluson (Icelandic Blue Mussel & Seaweed) is thanked for supplying samples of wild Icelandic dulse. Lars Williams (Nordic Food Lab and Restaurant Noma) performed some of the aqueous extracts of dulse. Eyjólfur Friðgeirsson (Íslensk hollusta ehf) is acknowledged for correspondence regarding dulse (søl) in Iceland. Susan Løvstad Holdt (The Danish Seaweed Network) is thanked for useful references. Poul Erik Nielsen (Gourmettang) is acknowledged for information on the composition of French seaweed products. Inge Rokkjær (Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, Aarhus, Denmark) is thanked for performing the analyses for inorganic arsenic. Helpful correspondence with Dr. Dorthe Dideriksen (Odense University Hospital) on pharmacological effects of kainic acids is gratefully acknowledged. Mette Rindom Nørrelykke is thanked for giving us access to some unpublished data for fatty acid contents of Danish dulse. MEMPHYS Center for Biomembrane Physics is supported by the Danish National Research Foundation. This work was supported by grants from the Danish Food Industry Agency (J.nr. 3414-09-02518) and from Lundbeckfonden.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MEMPHYS-Center for Biomembrane Physics, Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, University of Southern Denmark, 55 Campusvej, 5230, Odense, Denmark

    Ole G. Mouritsen & Lars Duelund

  2. Nordic Food Lab, 93 Strandgade, 1401, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Ole G. Mouritsen

  3. Institute of Nutrition, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Strasse 24, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Christine Dawczynski & Gerhard Jahreis

  4. Institute of Food Chemistry (170b), University of Hohenheim, Garbenstr. 28, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    Walter Vetter & Markus Schröder

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  1. Ole G. Mouritsen
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  2. Christine Dawczynski
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  3. Lars Duelund
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  4. Gerhard Jahreis
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  5. Walter Vetter
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Correspondence to Ole G. Mouritsen.

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Mouritsen, O.G., Dawczynski, C., Duelund, L. et al. On the human consumption of the red seaweed dulse (Palmaria palmata (L.) Weber & Mohr). J Appl Phycol 25, 1777–1791 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-013-0014-7

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