Marinades, carpaccio, fried or in soup. In a few years the jellyfish could arrive on our tables. Talking about a few likely years, explains Antonella Leone, senior researcher at the National Research Council-Institute of Science of Food Production (CNR-Ispa) in Lecce, who has been working on the “GoJelly” project for years. The timing will be dictated by the collection of sufficient scientific data to guarantee the food safety of these biomasses. At that point an interested party, for example an association of fishermen or chefs or a public body, can apply for authorization or notification to the European Commission and await the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). That it might be faster than you think. in fact, the process for placing on the market of foods that are new in Europe but that have a history (at least 25 years) of safe food in third countries has been shortened, as in the case of jellyfish that have been a dish for 2000 years traditional in the East. The European food safety law is very strict, so we need a dossier for each species of edible jellyfish.
The nutritional characteristics
Nearly 1 million tons of jellyfish are produced annually in the Far East, between fishing and aquaculture, for a value of approximately 100 million euros. 95-97% of a water jellyfish. The low calorie intake because what remains contains mineral salts, such as magnesium and potassium, proteins with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and Omega 3 and 6 fats present only in symbiotic microalgae hosted by some jellyfish. You can eat the specimens that are little or no stinging at all. Depending on the species, our studies on some Mediterranean and North Sea jellyfish have shown that cooking at 100 degrees determines the elimination of the toxicity of the poison. Sometimes washing in fresh water is enough, continues the expert who has curated the book “European Jellyfish Cookbook. First recipes based on Western-style jellyfish ”
Reduction of microbial load and conservation
One of the biggest problems, which also concerns the jellyfish already used in the East as food, their treatment, after fishing, with salt and alum. The latter neurotoxic. We have devised and patented an alternative process to the Asian one that does not use alum, but still allows the biomass to be treated quickly so as to be able to preserve it and reduce the microbial load and excess sodium chloride, which are harmful to health. The processing method would already be available if a proposal for the marketing of these novel foods is accepted by Europe.
The spread on the Italian coasts
Consider that from the sea, less and less fish, proteins are obtained for over three billion people and that the world population is growing at an exponential rate, almost 10 billion in 2050. If no alternatives are found, in 2050 the current marketed fish stocks are expected to disappear. It means there will be nothing for anyone or there will be very little. Jellyfish are characterized by their incessant reproduction. From 2006 to today, as recorded by the University of Salento, their diffusion and abundance increased in the Italian coastal seas, also thanks to global warming. The idea of differentiating fishing and looking for new sustainable foods is therefore a way to reduce overfishing and give time and a way to the species most in demand today to reproduce, concludes the researcher. Which specifies: I ate the cooked jellyfish, the texture is full-bodied and the flavor is reminiscent of oysters.
April 18, 2021 (change April 18, 2021 | 19:38)
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