ABSTRACT
The production of edible seaweed in Japan in 1993 was nearly 700,000 metric tons (MT). Kinds of seaweed include a red seaweed called nori (mainly Porphyra tenera and P. yezoensis) at 400,000 MT; two brown seaweeds, kombu {Laminaria japonica and its analogues) at 194,000 MT and wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) at 93,000 MT (1). The total of green seaweeds amounts to less than 1000 MT. These figures indicate the order of significance of red (Rhodophyta), brown (Phaeophyta), and green seaweeds (Chlorophyta) in Japan, where only green seaweed is consumed in small quantity. This consumption trend is also common elsewhere in the world (2). As will be seen, study of both seaweed fla vor and seaweed enzymes has recently proceeded with green seaweeds. There fore, there remains a gap between commercially important species and scientific knowledge.
