Saccharina japonica | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Clade: | Diaphoretickes |
Clade: | SAR |
Clade: | Stramenopiles |
Phylum: | Gyrista |
Subphylum: | Ochrophytina |
Class: | Phaeophyceae |
Order: | Laminariales |
Family: | Laminariaceae |
Genus: | Saccharina |
Species: | S. japonica
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Binomial name | |
Saccharina japonica (J.E. Areschoug) C.E. Lane, C. Mayes, Druehl & G.W. Saunders
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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.[1] It has the common name sweet kelp.[2] It is widely eaten in East Asia.[3] 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.[3] Large harvests are produced by rope cultivation which is a simple method of growing seaweeds by attaching them to floating ropes in the ocean.[1][4]
The species has been cultivated in China, Japan, Korea, Russia and France.[5] It is one of the two most consumed species of kelp in China and Japan.[1] Saccharina japonica is also used for the production of alginates, with China producing up to ten thousand tons of the product each year.[6]
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.[7]