Porphyra is a genus of cold-water red seaweeds (laver) that grow on rocks in the intertidal zone of temperate seas, comprising roughly 60 to 70 species. The commonly eaten members are used to make nori, gim and laverbread, and they are not grown as garden plants.
Water
Grows submerged in cold seawater, not in a garden or pot.
Temperature
Cold temperate seawater; not suited to warm conditions.
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Edible
Yes, some parts
About
Porphyra is a genus of coldwater seaweeds that grow in cold, shallow seawater. More specifically, it belongs to red algae phylum of laver species (from which comes laverbread), comprising approximately 70 species. It grows in the intertidal zone, typically between the upper intertidal zone and the splash zone in cold waters of temperate oceans. In East Asia, it is used to produce the sea vegetable products nori (in Japan) and gim (in Korea). There are considered to be 60–70 species of Porphyra worldwide and seven around Britain and Ireland, where it has been traditionally used to produce edible sea vegetables on the Irish Sea coast. The species Porphyra purpurea has one of the largest plastid genomes known, with 251 genes.
Uses
Most human cultures with access to Porphyra use it as a food or somehow in the diet, making it perhaps the most domesticated of the marine algae, known as laver, rong biển (Vietnamese), nori (Japanese:海苔), amanori (Japanese), zakai, gim (Korean:김), zǐcài (Chinese:紫菜), karengo, sloke or slukos. The marine red alga Porphyra has been cultivated extensively in many Asian countries as an edible seaweed used to wrap the rice and fish that compose the Japanese food sushi and the Korean food gimbap. In Japan, the annual production of Porphyra species is valued at 100 billion yen (US$1 billion).
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