Atlantic Canadian commercial seaweeds: food product development and sensory evaluation

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Edible seaweeds represent plant ingredients with a unique composition and are harvested in Atlantic Canada, however, their consumption in Canada is very limited. This project will be conducted in collaboration with Acadian Seaplants Limited (ASL), a leading Canadian company in production and bioprocessing of seaweeds into the value-added products for human consumption, products for pet food and livestock feed, and ingredients designed to enhance plant growth and crop production. The seaweed products known as Chondrus crispus and commercialized by ASL under the trade name Hana TsunomataTM are already successful on the Japanese market. While seaweeds have rich micronutrient composition and multiple bioactive components, their consumption in Canada is significantly limited due to the lack of cultural experience and culinary use. A better understanding of the sensory characteristics of seaweeds including their visual appearance, taste, palatability, flavour and texture, as well as their effect on physical comfort and satiety, will help to formulate a broad range of functional foods that can be introduced and accepted into the Canadian dietary pattern. A recent introduction of the new edition of Canada's Food Guide known to promote the consumption of plant ingredients resonates with this exploration of edible seaweeds, their sensory properties and varieties of foods in which they can be incorporated. This project will result in new knowledge in sensory characteristics of commercial seaweeds and their potential as functional food ingredients. The innovative component of the project is the design of new products using domestically produced seaweeds and evaluation of their sensory properties that were not assessed before. This study will provide new directions for the development of tasty food products that will include domestically produced seaweed ingredients and be consumed by Canadians.