A brief review is presented concerning wakame, Undaria pinnatifida, one of the most popular seaweeds used for food in Japan. Although it has been cultivated since about 1940, full-scale cultivation occurred after 1955. As methods for providing 'seed stock' and of processing the harvested sporophytes progressed, the yield increased rapidly. The main areas of cultivation are in Japan (e.g. Sanriku, Naruto), Korea and China, while 'wild' U. pinnatifida has been introduced into France, New Zealand and Australia. The total world yield of wakame exceeds 500 000 t fresh weight. Cultivated and harvested Undaria is boiled and salted (thus becoming green) and refrigerated; in the factory, it is removed its foreign matter and salt and dried. After checking for quality, the product is packaged in forms convenient for cooking and eating.
Starch gel electrophoresis was carried out to survey the genetic variation in the haploid lavers of the Porphyra sp. claimed to be Porphyra renera. Eleven enzyme loci were resolved and scored. Eight of the eleven loci were monomorphic, while the three loci, catalase (CAT), glucosephosphate isomerase (GPI) and mannosephosphate isomerase (MPI) showed polymorphism. At the Gpi and Mpi loci, a number of lavers had electrophoretic phenotypes characteristic of heterozygotes. In order to compare with Porphyra yezoensis, the allelic frequencies were calculated on the assumption that the heterozygous phenotypes possessed two alleles. The genetic distance between Porphyra sp. and Porphyra yezoensis was 0.1511, indicating the differentiation of the subspecies level. Electrophoretic phenotypes characteristic of heterozygotes is unexpected, since Porphyra lavers are in a haploid phase. Our findings suggest that the plant is either in the diploid phase or that duplication occurs in one of the chromosome sets. 1.1.1.44.), phosphoglucomutase (PGM 2.7.5.1.),
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