Journal of Applied Phycology 5: 255-258, 1993.

1993 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in Belgium. 255

Health benefits and nutritional properties of nori

Hiroyuki Noda
Laboratory of Marine Biochemistry, Faculty of Bioresources, Mie University, Tsu, Mie 514, Japan

Key words: antitumor, dried Porphyra, hoshi-nori, minerals, porphyran, protein, taurine, vitamins

Abstract

A brief review is presented of the properties of nori relevaniL to health. The dried alga contains large
amounts of protein, ash, vitamins and carbohydrate. The levels of taurine (> 1.2%) are notable as this
compound aids enterohepatic circulation of bile acid, thus preventing gallstone through controlling
blood-cholesterol levels. Relatively high levels ofeicosapentanoic acid, choline, inositol and other B-group
vitamins are regarded as beneficial to health. The occurrence of porphyosins and betaines that prevent
respectively, gastric shay ulcers and lower blood-cholesterol levels are particular interest. A sulfated
galactan, similar to agar, occurs in relatively large quantities; this is a water-soluble dietary fiber that has
important functional activities such as an antiblood coagulant, antihypercholesterolemia and shows
antitumor activity. Minerals which occur at relatively high levels in nori include Zn, Cu, Mn and Se.It
is concluded that nori is a valuable health food in human diets.

Introduction and various vitamins and essential minerals

Numerous red, brown and green seaweeds are
processed in Japan. The most important among
these are species of Porphyra, and investigations
have focused on products that occur in dried nori
('hoshi-nori' in Japanese). These results have in-
dicated that nori contains various biologically ac-
tive substances beneficial to human health. The
present paper describes some of the recent infor-
mation that has become available in this field.
Nutritional properties of nori products
Nori is processed under controlled conditions to
prevent breakdown of its products, and its nutri-
tive value is thus almost as high as that of fresh
laver. Protein levels are 25-50 % of the dry weight,
present in nori (Table 1).
Protein and amino acids
Free and bound amino acids which have been
identified in nori (Kagawa, 1983) are shown in
Table 2. Nori is rich in alanine, aspartic acid,
glutamic acid and glycine, although the ratios
among these bound and free amino acids vary
widely (Noda et al., 1975). The characteristic
taste of hoshi-nori which is favored by most Jap-
anese, results from relative large amounts of free
alanine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid and glycine.
Nori also contains high levels (> 1.20o of d.wt) of
taurine (Noda et al., 1975). This sulfated amino
acid, derived from cystein, assists enterohepatic
recirculation of bile acid and controls blood-
256

Table 1. Nutritive composition of nori on a dry weight basisa

Primary composition (%) Mineral (mg%) Vitamin (mg%)

Protein 43.6 Ca 440 A potency 16000 (IU)

Lipid 2.1 P 650 B1 12.9
Carbohydrate Fe 13 B2 38.2
Nonfibrous 44.4 Na 570 Niacin 11.0
Fiber 2.0 K 2400 B6 1.04 d
Ash 7.8 Mn 2b B 12 0.029d
b
Zn j0 Choline 292.0 d
Cu 1.47 b Inositol 6.2d
Se 0.08c C 112.5

a Anon., 1982. b Noda, 1971 & Noda etal., 1981. Horiguchi etal., 1971. d Kanazawa, 1963.

Table 2. Amino acid composition of protein, free amino acids Table 3. Fatty acid composition (expressed as % of total fatty
and taurine in hoshi-nori on a dry weight basis. acid content) of Porphyrayezoensis cultured at different tem-
peratures for 14 days.
Amino acid Bound form* (%) Free (ng%)
Fatty acid Temperature
Alanine 9.92 15280
Arginine 5.92 150 10 C 20 C
Aspartic acid 8.48 3220
Glutamic acid 9.28 13300 12:0 5.2 4.7
Glycine 6.88 240 12:1 - -
Histidine 1.18 100 14:0 1.8 1.7
Isoleucine 4.00 200 16:0 21.0 22.5
Leucine 7.68 310 16:1 3.7 3.5
Lysine 2.56 120 18:0 1.0 1.0
Methionine 3.36 20 18:10)9 2.9 3.0
Phenylalanine 5.28 70 O 18:2w)6 (y-) 5.5 5.7
Proline 4.64 40 0 18:3w)3 (ac-) 1.9 2.0
Serine 4.80 370 18:4co3 1.6 1.7
Threonine 3.20 460 20:0 0.5 0.8
Tryptophan 1.10 trace 20:20)6 - -
Tyrosine 2.40 130 20:33 1.8 2.0
Valine 9.28 150 0 20:4co3 3.0 3.2
Taurine - 12100 E] 20:50co3 50.1 48.2

* Calculated by assuming protein = total nitrogen x 6.25. O Vitamin F group; [ eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).
a Kanagawa, 1983. b Noda etal., 1975.

cholesterol levels through formation of tauro-
cholic acid (Tsujii etal., 1981, 1983).
Lipids
The lipid content of nori is 2-3% of the dry
weight, and the seaweed is relatively rich in un-
saturated fatty acids as shown in Table 3 (Kaya-
ma et al., 1985). Slightly more than 10% of the
total fatty acids is comprised of F-group (linole-
ic, linolenic and arachidonic acids) vitamins,
while eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) may account
for nearly 50% of the fatty acids. EPA has been
recognized as being more effective than arachi-
donic acid in preventing atherosclerosis (Dyer-
berg etal., 1978; Dyerberg & Bang, 1979). C2 0
polyunsaturated fatty acids are important in act-
ing as local hormones in the control of various
aspects of metabolism.