Poster Presentation 2024 Australian Marine Sciences Association Annual Meeting combined with NZMSS

Are Tasmanian sea grapes the next gastronomic experience? (#672)

Micah Landon-Lane 1 , Jeffrey Wright 1 , Catriona Hurd 1 , Masayuki Tatsumi 2 , Samantha Sawyer 3 , Matthew Wilson 4
  1. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
  2. Sea Forest, Triabunna, TAS, Australia
  3. Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS, Australia
  4. Unversity of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

Seaweed is increasingly seen as a healthy, sustainable food with strong potential for novel culinary experiences. Many species of sea grapes (genus Caulerpa) are cultivated and harvested throughout Asia and the Pacific and are commonly eaten fresh in salads. This study examined the potential for Tasmanian Caulerpa to be a new food source by comparing palatability with quantitative analysis of taste and aroma profiles in four Tasmania Caulerpa species. Fifty-eight people ranked the four species in a taste test and participants strongly disliked one of the species, with no differences in overall liking among the other three species. Overall liking was primarily influenced by the flavour attributes of taste and texture. These four species and the commercially available C. lentillifera were then analysed quantitatively for taste using an ‘electronic tongue’, and aroma using gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The electronic tongue indicated little variation in the flavour attributes among the Tasmanian species and the commercially available C. lentillifera. However, volatile compounds identified in the GCMS varied among species, with compounds associated with unpleasant smells linked with the lower ranked species in the taste test. Overall, these findings suggest certain Tasmanian Caulerpa are potential new seaweed for human consumption.