Saccharina japonica
| Saccharina japonica | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Diaphoretickes |
| Clade: | Sar |
| Clade: | Stramenopiles |
| Phylum: | Ochrophyta |
| Class: | Phaeophyceae |
| Order: | Laminariales |
| Family: | Laminariaceae |
| Genus: | Saccharina |
| Species: | S. japonica |
| Binomial name | |
| Saccharina japonica (J.E. Areschoug) C.E. Lane, C. Mayes, Druehl & G.W. Saunders | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Laminaria japonica J.E. Areschoug | |
Saccharina japonica is a marine species of the Phaeophyceae (brown algae) class, a type of kelp or seaweed, which is extensively cultivated on ropes between the seas of China, Japan and Korea. It has the common name sweet kelp. It is widely eaten in East Asia. A commercially important species, S. japonica is also called ma-konbu (真昆布) in Japanese, dasima (다시마) in Korean and hǎidài (海带) in Chinese. Large harvests are produced by rope cultivation which is a simple method of growing seaweeds by attaching them to floating ropes in the ocean.
The species has been cultivated in China, Japan, Korea, Russia and France. It is one of the two most consumed species of kelp in China and Japan. Saccharina japonica is also used for the production of alginates, with China producing up to ten thousand tons of the product each year.
S. japonica contains very high amounts of iodine. Excessive consumption (15 g/day, containing 35 mg iodine) suppresses thyroid function, though thyroid hormone levels remain within normal limits.