Each summer, thick mats of sargassum seaweed wash onto Florida beaches, bringing with them an unmistakable smell, costly cleanups and disruptions to animal conservation efforts. And this year we are likely to see a record-breaking amount hit Florida shores, with an estimated 10 million metric tons of sargassum already floating in the Atlantic. But what if that seasonal nuisance could become something useful?
Florida International University researchers are exploring ways to turn sargassum from waste into a valuable food ingredient. The findings are published in Food Hydrocolloids as part of a multi-institutional collaboration. The study included researchers from Florida State University, Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University.
Imran Ahmad, a co-author on the study, is a food scientist at FIU's Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. Ahmad contributed to the conceptual development of the broader project, which is being carried out in stages across partner institutions.
Below, Ahmad explains how and why sargassum might appear in our food one day.
Ahmad holds up sodium alginate, the final product of the extraction process, while seaweed sits on a drying rack.
