Optimal processing of macroalgae as a new sustainable food ingredient

Seaweed is a sustainable crop which is underutilised in the food industry today. They are high quality, nutritious raw materials with potential effects in foods beyond taste and nutrition. The trend towards reduced meat consumption imposes an increased demand for attractive and tasty plant-based foods. The main idea of OptiAlgae is to develop Norwegian, cultivated brown algae as a natural part of the everyday diet. A first step towards introducing large-volume, seaweed-based food ingredients to the Norwegian market, is to develop use of seaweed as an ingredient beyond flavour. Seaweed has properties as a taste booster (umami), salt replacer, texture-provider and other more technical functions in foods, and as a source of essential nutrients. An aim is therefore to utilise the seaweed's functional properties, particularly as texture-provider and binder. This requires more knowledge about the interactions between e.g. alginate and other components of seaweed and the food matrix. Another main research task will be the development of separation processes for enrichment of desired flavour components, nutrients and polysaccharides, and for removal of undesired components, like too much iodine. Orkla Foods Norge produces around 1300 food products, with a potential use of seaweed-based ingredients in a wide range, like dried soups, meat products, meat substitutes, pizza and bakery products, for the Norwegian and international markets. Orkla aims to be in the forefront in the development of more sustainable and healthy foods. Project partner Seaweed Solutions (SES) is one of Norway's largest producers of high-quality cultivated seaweed and a pioneer in seaweed cultivation. SES aims to become a leading producer of high quality, organic seaweed for the food industry. OptiAlgae is a constellation of two industry partners covering the value chain all the way from the ocean to the finished food products on the consumers? tables, and two research partners; NTNU and SINTEF. During the first year of the project we have established new methods for vitamin B12 analyses and rheological analysis of paté. Progress has also been made in testing the functional effects of seaweed processed by different methods.

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The growing seaweed farming in Norway provides raw materials of high quality, with an unutilised potential as food and food ingredients. Seaweed has attractive properties as a taste booster (umami), salt replacer, texture-provider, other functions and as a source of essential nutrients. The trend towards reduced meat consumption, for both sustainability and health reasons, imposes an increased demand for attractive and tasty plant-based foods. Orkla Foods Norge produces around 1300 food products, with a potential use of seaweed-based ingredients in a wide spectre, like dried soups and sauces, meat products, meat substitutes, pizza and bakery products. Orkla aims to be in the forefront in development of more sustainable and healthy foods. The project partner SES is one of Norway's largest producers of high-quality cultivated seaweed and a pioneer in seaweed cultivation in Europe. SES aims to become a leading producer of high quality, organic seaweed for the food industry. The main idea of OptiAlgae is to develop Norwegian, cultivated brown algae as a natural part of the everyday diet. A first step towards introducing large-volume, seaweed-based food ingredients to the Norwegian market, is to develop use of seaweed as an ingredient beyond flavour. An aim is therefore to utilise the seaweed's functional properties, in particular as texture-provider and binder. This will require more knowledge about the interactions between e.g. alginate and other components of the seaweed and the food matrix. Another main research task will be the development of separation processes for enrichment of desired flavour components, nutrients and polysaccharides, and for removal of undesired components, like too high levels of iodine. The wide range of food products and thorough market knowledge Orkla holds, provides an ideal arena for testing the technological and sensory qualities of seaweed ingredients and introduce large scale products to the Norwegian, Nordic and international markets.