Marine algae Laminaria japonica

Katayama reported volatiles of some air-dried green marine algae at the early stages of gas chromatography (GC) development (3). In recent years, we have explored volatile compounds in fifty or more species of wet and undecomposed seaweeds in Japan green seaweeds Ulva pertusa. Monostroma nitidum, and Enteromorpha clathrata brown seaweeds Laminaria japonica and Undaria pinnatifida, and red seaweeds Porphyra tenera and Porphyra yezoensis by GC and GC-mass spectrometry (MS). 

Kolb, N., Vallorani, L., Milanovic, N., and Stocchi, V. (2004). Evaluation of marine algae wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) and kombu (Laminaria digitata japonica) as food supplements. Food Technol. Biotechnol. 42,57-61. 

The water extract of a marine algae kelp (Laminaria japonica) has been used in a number of Japanese recipes as a kind of soup to flavor cooking. The tasty ( umami in Japanese) factor in the marine algae was identified as monosodium glutamate by ProL Kikunae Ikeda in 1908. Soon thereafter, Ajinomoto Co. Ltd. started to produce monosodium glutamate by extraction from wheat protein after hydrolysis with hydrochloric acid. 

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