Chapters authored
Sea Vegetables
Sea vegetables or seaweeds have a long tradition in Asian cuisine. In Western countries, including Turkey, seaweed consumption is generally limited to sushi and other imported Asian dishes. However, seaweeds are well recognized for their richness in several nutrients such as carbohydrate, fiber, protein, lipid, and minerals. The migration of Asian population across the world has promoted the discovery of new ingredients from seaweeds and has given courage to the creation of new dishes by chefs in restaurants. Among the seaweeds traditionally consumed by Asian population, Ulva, Laminaria, and Porphyra are well-known species. Seaweed polysaccharides, such as agar, alginate, and carrageenan, are widely used in the food industry as clarifying, gelling, emulsifying, stabilizing, thickening, and flocculating agents in various food products such as ice cream, yogurt, candy, meat product, beverages, etc. The production of plant protein concentrates (PCs) is of growing interest to the food industry. Recently, PCs were also extracted from three edible green seaweed species of Enteromorpha or Ulva. Seaweed contains a wide array of nutritional compounds also possessing several functional properties that may lead to many dish and food preparation innovations. For example, a green seaweed, Ulva, may be used with or in the replacement of other commonly used vegetables to promote healthy food.
Part of the book: Vegetables