Is this the real life? Researchers develop bacon-flavored seaweed

Researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) in the United States have developed seaweed for everyone to master. Native to the Pacific and Atlantic coastal regions, the red seaweed known as dulse has been studied and modified at the institution for the past 15 years to serve as a food source for abalones, a species of mollusk.

Dulse grows extremely fast, is very high in protein and is usually sold dehydrated as a culinary ingredient or nutritional supplement. However, the variety developed at the OSU-linked Hatfield Center for Marine Science has something else: it gets the aroma and taste of bacon when fried.

Abalone is highly prized in Asia, which has even created an illegal mollusk fishing market off the coast of South Africa, where it used to be in abundance, as the pound of abalone is sold “at a gold price”. The original idea of ​​the research was to develop a seaweed that would serve as an optimized food source for the mollusk so that it could be more easily bred in captivity.

Dulse is life

Abalones fed the dulse variety developed at Hatfield Center laboratories grow at a much faster rate than usual. This made their creation gain commercial scale in Hawaii by Big Island Abalone Corporation. It was then that, at the suggestion of a member of another sector of the university, researchers began to think of seaweed as food for humans.

Since dulse is twice the nutritional value of kale, the university decided to finance the development of a variety that was easily cultivated, betting on the potential of a new industry. Working together with the Food Innovation Center in Portland, also associated with OSU, the researchers then developed a series of fresh and dehydrated seaweed applications in the food industry.

School MBA students are now preparing a business plan to roll out more bacon-flavored dulse farmland to make it a profitable business. We just hope it doesn't take long to get here in Brazil too.

Besides bacon, what other flavors would you like to have in organic foods? Comment on the Mega Curious Forum