Grand Manan & White Head
Sea Vegetables
Sea Vegetables
| Element |
Percentage
|
Dietary amounts
|
| Protein |
25.3
|
21.5g/100g
|
| Carbohydrate |
44.2
|
44.6g/100g
|
| Fat |
3.8
|
1.7g/100g
|
| Calories |
264/100g
|
|
| Mineral salts |
26.7
|
|
| Sodium |
0.47
|
1740mg/100g
|
| Potassium |
7.11
|
7820mg/100g
|
| Calcium |
2.5
|
213mg/100g
|
| Iodine |
0.008
|
5.2mg/100g
|
| Iron |
0.15
|
33.1mg/100g
|
| Magnesium |
0.22
|
271mg/100g
|
| Copper |
0.026
|
0.376mg/100g
|
| Zinc |
0.0041
|
2.86mg/100g
|
| Nickel |
0.0072
|
|
| Cobalt |
0.000013
|
|
| Fluorine |
0.0015
|
5.3mg/100g
|
| Manganese |
1.14mg/100g
|
|
| Molybdenum |
0.000031
|
|
| Silica |
0.6
|
|
| Chromium |
Trace
|
0.150mg/100g
|
| Strontium, Vanadium, Titanium |
Trace
|
|
| Vitamin A |
663 I.U.
|
|
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) |
0.073mg/100g
|
|
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) |
1.91mg/100g
|
|
| Vitamin B3(Niacin) |
1.89mg/100g
|
|
| Vitamin B6 (Pyrodoxine) |
8.99mg/100g
|
|
| Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) |
6.60mcg/100g
|
|
| Vitamin C |
6.34mg/100g
|
|
| Vitamin E |
1.71 I.U.
|
Roland's
Sea Vegetables Main Page
(Roland's
dulse recipes)
Atlantic
Mariculture
(more
good dulse recipes)
|
Sea lettuce grows in thin sheets up to 30cm (or 1') attached by a "holdfast" to exposed rocks or detached in tide pools. Unfortunately, it thrives in moderate pollution so picking areas should be scutinized. Sea lettuce can be pressed in a plant press and mounted on cards or as a collage , mixed with other seaweeds or plants and flowers. The green translucent, dried plants make an attractive specimen. Protect from direct sunlight.
Laver or Nori (Porphyra) - eaten fresh or sun-dried, laver can also be dry roasted and crumbled into soups, grains, popcorn, salads, made into laver bread (soaked, mixed with oats and fried), sauteed with vegetables, or cultivated "Asian" nori processed into sheets for sushi wrap. Laver can be pressed in a plant press and mounted on cards or as a collage, mixed with other seaweeds or plants and flowers. The translucent, dried plants make an attractive specimen. Protect from direct sunlight. Laver or nori grows in thin sheets on rocky shores, attached by a "holdfast" and is found from mid to low tide in the intertidal zone. Colour varies depending on the species and the amount of exposure to sun but most are a reddish hue. Harvesting is best during mid-summer.
Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus) - has long been a popular food, used most frequently to prepare blancmange. Irish moss is over 60% carrageenin, which is extracted and used as a gel in industry, pharmacy and as a  thickener
in soups and dairy products.
Irish moss is found on rocky shores attached by a "holdfast" in the lower intertidal area, growing to 17 to 25 cm (7 to 10"). The blades are flattened and forked repeatedly ranging from a dark purplish red to brown, green, yellow or white, depending on the exposure to sunlight. With some arranging and trimming, Irish moss can be pressed in a plant press and mounted on cards or as a collage , mixed with other seaweeds or plants and flowers. The dried plants make an attractive specimen. Protect from direct sunlight.
Kelp or hollow-stem kelp (Laminaria longicruris) - is sliced and added to soups, beans or stews but unlike Japanese kombu it cooks quickly and should be added during the last 20 minutes of cooking. Pan-fried crispy chips, dry roasted flakes or pickled in vinegar are other possibilities. Kelp typically grows along rocky shores below the low water mark, attached by a "holdfast" and reaching lengths of 4.5 to 11 m (or 15 to 36'). They are best harvested in early spring before they sporulate and are grazed by periwinkles and sea urchins. The blade is long and unbranched with an indentation before the stem begins. The stem is hollow above the holdfast.
Alaria or edible kelp (Alaria esculenta) - is perfect for soups, delicious raw in salads (presoaked or marinated), very similar to Japanese wakame. The kelp fronds grow to 3 m (10') and are typically found along rocky shores below the low water mark, attached by a "holdfast". The blade is frayed with bladelets along the stalk. The stalk is solid.
Rock Weed or Knotted Wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum) - is a common brown seaweed growing attached to rocks with "holdfasts", completely carpeting boulders, not to be confused with another common rock weed, bladder wrack (Fucus sp.). The fronds grow to 60cm to 3m (2 to 7'). Knots or air bladders along the narrow branches suspend the seaweed when the tide comes in. During spring and summer forked reproductive nodules form on the tips of branches. Knotted wrack becomes detached from rocks in storms and forms floating mats or seaweed patches that drift offshore. When the patches are carried on shore, they accumulate along the high water mark, gradually breaking down, releasing nutrients back into the intertidal area. 
Knotted wrack is cut from rocks while the plants are suspended using small boats and cutting rakes to minimize the disturbance of the plants. A portion of the plant remains attached to the rock for further growth. The plants are used in animal and human feed supplements, as a component of industrial products, and as organic fertilizers. Small scale collecting, grinding and spreading of raw seaweed on fields and gardens has been a traditional practise for hundreds of years. The commercial harvest allows this source of organic fertilizer to inland areas. A compound called alginate is also derived from the seaweed and used in a variety of applications. The commercial rockweed harvest has been common place in Nova Scotia for thirty or more years and has recently been expanded to New Brunswick as a response to the increased demand for products. The expanded harvest is controversial with many disagreeing with the practise because of the potential impact on larval fish, periwinkles, etc. The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans states "It is clear careful management of the harvest is needed not only for renewal of the resource but also to keep disturbance in the habitat to a level the ecosystem as a whole can absorb."
Rock Weed or Bladder Wrack (Fucus spp.) - is also a common brown seaweed growing attached to rocks with "holdfasts", completely carpeting boulders, not to be confused with knotted wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum) - see above. The forked blades may grow up to 0.9 m (3') in length. Air bladders and fruiting bodies are present on the ends or along the blades. Rocks entirely covered with either bladder wrack or knotted wrack provide a cool, moist environment underneath when the tide goes out, protecting such things as crabs, periwinkles and whelks until the tide returns. Bladder wrack may also form mats of floating seaweed when torn from the rocks during storms and come ashore forming tide lines along the beach. The biological breakdown of rockweed tide lines returns nutrients to the intertidal zone. Bladder wrack is collected in the fall and spread on gardens as a mulch. It can be tilled into the garden in the spring.
|
Page revised May 3, 2004
