Skip to main content

Quantification of iodine loss in edible Irish seaweeds during processing

Journal of Applied Phycology volume 28, pages 3527–3533 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Exposure to seaweed-derived iodine through the consumption of macroalgae can positively and negatively influence human health, depending on whether adequate (150 μg day−1) or excessive quantities are ingested. Following harvest, macroalgal material typically undergoes certain processing procedures involving washing, dehydration, rehydration (soaking) and cooking (boiling) before it is consumed. In this study, we assessed iodine in edible brown (Alaria esculenta), red (Palmaria palmata) and green (Ulva intestinalis) macroalgae and quantified the iodine loss during processing. Freshly collected A. esculenta contained higher quantities of iodine (670 μg (g dw)−1) than P. palmata (97 μg (g dw)−1) and U. intestinalis (92 μg (g dw)−1), implying that only 0.2–1.6 g dw of freshly harvested algae contain the recommended daily intake level. Washing (10 min in deionised water) and dehydration (air-, oven- and freeze-drying) at low irradiances only marginally affected iodine levels, suggesting that gentle preservation techniques prevent iodine loss. By contrast, rehydration (1–24 h soaking in deionised water) significantly reduced iodine: by 62 % in A. esculenta, by 15 % in P. palmata and by 10 % in U. intestinalis. The iodine levels of all three species decreased further upon boiling (20 min in deionised water). Despite a considerable, but species-specific, loss of iodine during processing, all macroalgae still contained iodine at 66 to 165 μg (g dw)−1 after rehydration and subsequent boiling. Our results indicate that both raw and processed macroalgae can be considered as a rich source of iodine and thus their consumption may influence human health and nutrition.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

39,95 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

References

  • Amorim-Carrilho K, Lage-Yusty MA, Lopéz-Hernández J (2014) Variation of bioactive compounds in dried seaweed Himanthalia elongata subjected to different culinary processes. CyTA-J Food 12:336–339

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ar Gall E, Küpper FC, Kloareg B (2004) A survey of iodine content in Laminaria digitata. Bot Mar 47:30–37

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bouga M, Combet E (2015) Emergence of seaweed and seaweed-containing foods in the UK: focus on labeling, iodine content, toxicity and nutrition. Foods 4:240–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bürgi H (2010) Iodine excess. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab 24:107–115

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burreson BJ, Moore RE, Roller P (1975) Haloforms in the essential oil of the algal Asparagopsis taxiformis (Rhodophyta). Tetrahedron Lett 7:473–476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung S, Chan A, Xiao Y, Lin V, Ho YY (2013) Iodine content in commonly consumed food in Hong Kong and its changes due to cooking. Food Addit Contam B 6:24–29

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cox S, Abu-Ghannam N, Gupta S (2012) Effect of processing conditions on phytochemical constituents of edible Irish seaweed Himanthalia elongata. J Food Process Preserv 36:348–363

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Delange F (2002) Iodine deficiency in Europe and its consequences: an update. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 29:S404–S416

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn JT (2003) Iodine should be routinely added to complementary foods. J Nutr 133:3008S–3010S

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dworjanyn SA, De Nys R, Steinberg PD (1999) Localisation and surface quantification of secondary metabolites in the red alga Delisea pulchra. Mar Biol 133:727–736

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fenical W (1975) Halogenation in the Rhodophyta a review. J Phycol 11:245–259

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • FSANZ (2013) Survey of iodine levels in seaweed and seaweed containing products in Australia. Available from: https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science/surveillance/documents/Iodine%20in%20Seaweed.pdf

  • García-Sartal C, Barciela-Alonso MC, Moreda-Piñeiro A, Bermejo-Barrera P (2013) Study of cooking on the bioavailability of As, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Se and Zn from edible seaweed. Microchem J 108:92–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harper MK, Bugni TS, Copp BR, James RD, Lindsay BS, Richardson AD, Schnabel PC, Tasdemir D, VanWagoner RM, Verbitski SM, Ireland CM (2001) Introduction to the chemical ecology of marine natural products. In: McClintock JB, Baker BJ (eds) Marine Chemical Ecology. CRC Press, New York, pp 3–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Haug A, Jensen A (1954) Seasonal variations in the chemical composition of Alaria esculenta, Laminaria saccharina, Laminaria hyperborea and Laminaria digitata from northern Norway. Technical Report 84, Norwegian Institute of Seaweed Research

  • Hou X, Chai C, Qian Q, Yan X, Fan X (1997) Determination of chemical species of iodine in some seaweeds (I). Sci Total Environ 204:215–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hou X, Hansen V, Aldahan A, Possnert G, Lind OC, Lujaniene G (2009) A review on speciation of iodine-129 in the environmental and biological samples. Anal Chim Acta 632:181–196

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kolb N, Vallorani L, Milanovic N, Stocchi V (2004) Evaluation of marine algae wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) and kombu (Laminaria digitata japonica) as food supplements. Food Technol Biotechnol 42:57–61

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Küpper FC, Carpenter LJ, McFiggans GB, Palmer CJ, Waite TJ, Boneberg E-M, Woitsch S, Weiller M, Abela R, Grolimund D, Potin P, Butler A, Luther GW III, Kroneck PMH, Meyer-Klaucke W, Feiters MC (2008) Iodide accumulation provides kelp with an inorganic antioxidant impacting atmospheric chemistry. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:6954–6958

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kylin H (1929) Über das Vorkommen von Jodiden, Bromiden und Jodidoxidasen bei den Meeresalgen. Hoppe-Seylor’s Z Physiol Chem 186:50–84

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leung AM, Braverman LE, Pearce EN (2007) A dietary iodine questionnaire: correlation with urinary iodine and food diaries. Thyroid 17:755–762

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lüning K, Mortensen L (2015) European aquaculture of sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) for food industries: iodine content and epiphytic animals as major problems. Bot Mar 58:449–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacArtain P, Gill CIR, Brooks M, Campbell R, Rowland IR (2007) Nutritional value of edible seaweeds. Nutr Rev 65:535–543

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maehre HK, Edvinsen GK, Eilertsen K-E, Elvevoll EO (2016) Heat treatment increases the protein bioaccessibility in the red seaweed dulse (Palmaria palmata), but not in the brown seaweed winged kelp (Alaria esculenta). J Appl Phycol 28:581–590

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marsham S, Scott GW, Tobin ML (2007) Comparison of nutritive chemistry of a range of temperate seaweeds. Food Chem 100:1331–1336

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mouritsen OG (2013) Seaweeds. Edible, available & sustainable. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Müssig K (2009) Iodine-induced toxic effects due to seaweed consumption. In: Preedy VR, Burrow GN, Watson R (eds) Comprehensive handbook of iodine. Oxford Academic Press, Oxford, pp 897–908

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nitschke U, Dixneuf S, Ruth AA, Schmid M, Stengel DB (2013) Molecular iodine (I2) emission from two Laminaria species (Phaeophyceae) and impact of irradiance and temperature on I2 emission into air and iodide release into seawater from Laminaria digitata. Mar Env Res 92:102–109

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nitschke U, Dixneuf S, Schmid M, Ruth AA, Stengel DB (2015) Contribution of living and degrading kelp to coastal iodine fluxes. Mar Biol 162:1727–1738

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nitschke U, Stengel DB (2014) Iodine contributes to osmotic acclimatisation in the kelp Laminaria digitata (Phaeophyceae). Planta 239:521–530

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nitschke U, Stengel DB (2015) A new HPLC method for the detection of iodine applied to natural samples of edible seaweeds and commercial seaweed food products. Food Chem 172:326–334

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Patarra RF, Lisete Paiva L, Neto AI, Lima E, Baptista J (2011) Nutritional value of selected macroalgae. J Appl Phycol 23:205–208

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips DIW (1997) Iodine, milk, and the elimination of endemic goitre in Britain: the story of an accidental public health triumph. J Epidemiol Community Health 51:391–393

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Popper ZA, Michel G, Hervé C, Domozych DS, Willats WGT, Tuohy MG, Kloareg B, Stengel DB (2011) Evolution and diversity of plant cell walls: from algae to flowering plants. Annu Rev Plant Biol 62:567–590

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rupérez P (2002) Mineral content of edible marine seaweeds. Food Chem 79:23–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saenko GN, Kravtsova YY, Ivanenko VV, Sheludko SI (1978) Concentration of iodine and bromine by plants in seas of Japan and Okhotsk. Mar Biol 47:243–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmid M, Guihéneuf F, Stengel DB (2014) Fatty acid contents and profiles of 16 macroalgae collected from the Irish Coast at two seasons. J Appl Phycol 26:451–463

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shah M, Wuilloud RG, Kannamkumarath SS, Caruso JA (2005) Iodine speciation studies in commercially available seaweed by coupling different chromatographic techniques with UV and ICP-MS detection. J Anal At Spectrom 20:176–182

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smyth PPA (2003) Role of iodine in antioxidant defence in thyroid and breast disease. BioFactors 19:121–130

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stengel DB, Connan S, Popper ZA (2011) Algal chemodiversity and bioactivity: sources of natural variability and implications for commercial application. Biotech Adv 29:483–501

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Taboada MC, Millán R, Miguez MI (2013) Nutritional value of the marine algae wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) and nori (Porphyra purpurea) as food supplements. J Appl Phycol 25:1271–1276

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Teas J, Pino S, Critchley A, Braverman LE (2004) Variability of iodine content in common commercially available edible seaweeds. Thyroid 14:836–841

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vitti P, Delange F, Pinchera A, Zimmermann M, Dunn JT (2003) Europe is iodine deficient. Lancet 361:1226

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • WHO (2007) Iodine deficiency in Europe: a continuing public health problem. WHO Press, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Zava TT, Zava DT (2011) Assessment of Japanese iodine intake based on seaweed consumption in Japan: a literature-based analysis. Thyroid Res 4:14

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI, Investigator Project 12/IP/1502). We thank Freddy Guihéneuf and Matthias Schmid (Botany and Plant Science, School of Natural Sciences, and Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway) for constructive comments during the preparation of the manuscript. Sandra C. Raimundo (Department of Biology and Skidmore Microscopy Imaging Center, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, USA) is thanked for the help with assembling the schematic flow chart.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botany and Plant Science, School of Natural Sciences, and Ryan Institute for Environmental, Marine and Energy Research, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland

    Udo Nitschke & Dagmar B. Stengel

Authors
  1. Udo Nitschke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dagmar B. Stengel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Udo Nitschke.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nitschke, U., Stengel, D.B. Quantification of iodine loss in edible Irish seaweeds during processing. J Appl Phycol 28, 3527–3533 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-016-0868-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-016-0868-6

Keywords

  • Iodine content
  • Edible seaweeds
  • Processing
  • Cooking
  • Boiling
  • Drying