Researchers develop tuna alternative from marine algae

DW (English)

Algae are considered a superfood, and now a tuna substitute made from it is also on the market. But because seaweed absorbs pollutants from seawater, researchers are trying to cultivate algae in salty groundwater instead.

Transcript

00:01Vegan tuna made from algae.

00:04That's the star of the show in the test kitchen of Berlin-based startup BettaFish.

00:09The firm has been selling the fish alternative for a few years now.

00:14We'll make tuna pasta with asparagus.

00:17Just add the diced green vegetable, tomatoes and a can of the vegan tuna,

00:23which is made from a range of ingredients.

00:27It's now a mixture of northern European seaweeds from Norway, Ireland and Sweden,

00:34while the fibrous texture comes from fava beans and peas.

00:39Then we add a little more vegetable and cereal fiber and vegetable extracts

00:44to round off the taste and give it that special texture you associate with canned tuna fish.

00:53Real tuna has big drawbacks.

00:56Stocks are overfished using brutal methods and it contains high levels of mercury.

01:02About 80% of the catch ends up in the can.

01:06The vegan imitation looks kind of like the real thing, but is it really any cleaner?

01:12The startup seaweed only spends eight weeks in the water,

01:15but the whole time it also sucks up substances from the environment like a sponge.

01:21We select seaweed that has acceptable intake levels of heavy metals,

01:28but we also reduce those by blanching it, making it safe for consumption.

01:33There are certainly more ways to reduce this even further, which would allow us to eat more algae.

01:40But there's still a lot of research ahead. It'll be exciting.

01:47Just blanch the seaweed? So just drop it briefly in boiling water?

01:52Does that really get rid of heavy metals?

01:55It would be great if it were that easy, but I'm a bit skeptical.

02:00Anna Fricke is an algae specialist who conducts research for the Food for Future project

02:06at the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops,

02:10and she's developing a system that allows her to grow kelp free of any contamination from heavy metals.

02:17What's new, of course, is what we're doing here at the Institute.

02:22We no longer use seawater at all, but rather deep brine, saline groundwater.

02:28We're pioneers in the field in Germany.

02:31Anna Fricke cultivates her algae in naturally occurring salty groundwater,

02:37studying how it develops in what are called climate chambers in different light and temperature conditions.

02:43Our work is aimed at opening up seaweed cultivations for urban areas,

02:49so moving away from the coast and producing fresh, healthy algae biomass inland

02:54for use in food and other applications like cosmetics.

03:00After receiving assurance that the vegan tuna is safe to eat in small quantities,

03:05it's time for a taste test.

03:07What do people think?

03:16Tasty!

03:18Tasty!

03:19Delicious!

03:20It tastes like regular tuna.

03:21It tastes like regular tuna.

03:23Dasty!

03:26Dasty!

03:27OK!

03:28It tastes like a purin treehma.

03:29How about the degree is it?

03:32It tastes like a practiced animal in non-se Lagよ!

03:33What do you tô met?

03:34It tastes like a tuna!

03:35This tastes like a nuts, won't fall!

03:36If you just ever eat America, check it out for two,

03:38I had no words of one of my dogs,

03:39or two dogs of这里,

03:40so it's my mature

03:48I think you're gonna make this сок wheelchair.

03:49You get impatient.

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