This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

peer-reviewed publication

reputable news agency

proofread

Back on the menu? Europeans once ate seaweed, research shows

Sea change: Europeans lost the taste for seaweed more recently than previously thought, research has shown
Sea change: Europeans lost the taste for seaweed more recently than previously thought, research has shown.

Europeans now rarely eat seaweed, but it was an important part of their diet until the late Middle Ages, archaeologists said Tuesday, calling for the eco-friendly aquatic plant to be put back on the menu.

Seaweed, a healthy and sustainable source of protein, is a in some Asian countries such as Japan. But it has long been shunned by traditional Western diets—with a few exceptions, such as the Welsh dish laverbread.

It was previously thought that since the rise of farming, Europeans had mostly used seaweed as fuel, fertilizer or to feed livestock. It was only eaten to stave off hunger during famine, so the thinking went.

But a new study published in the journal Nature Communications found that Europeans were gobbling up seaweed millennia after that point, and suggested the continent re-embrace the .

To find out about ancient seaweed consumption, a UK-led team of researchers analyzed dental plaque extracted from the teeth of 74 different people who lived thousands of years ago at 28 sites ranging from Scotland to Spain.

Using a mass spectrometry technique to identify , they found evidence that the teeth had chowed down on several different aquatic plants.

Red seaweed was eaten both in Scotland's northern Orkney islands around 5,000 years ago and at Casa Corona in southern Spain 8,000 years ago, the study found.

While seaweed is a staple in Japan, it has long been shunned by traditional Western diets
While seaweed is a staple in Japan, it has long been shunned by traditional Western diets.

Freshwater aquatic plants, such as the pondweed Potamogeton, were commonly eaten in Portugal, Scotland and Lithuania, it added.

Karen Hardy, an archaeologist at Scotland's University of Glasgow and the study's lead author, told AFP that aquatic plants were "very likely eaten over a much more wide timescale than we found".

Europeans were previously believed to have turned their noses up at seaweed following the introduction of agriculture more than 10,000 years ago.

However, research in this field has focused on , so may have missed out on seaweed, which is easy to find and eat.

The authors of the study said has the potential to be a locally sourced, low-emission option that does not require the mass farming of the meals normally seen on Europe's plates.

"It's very healthy, it's nutritious, it's available, it's renewable," Hardy said.

"People ate it in the past in Europe," she said, adding hopefully that maybe they will again.

More information: Stephen Buckley et al, Human consumption of seaweed and freshwater aquatic plants in ancient Europe, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41671-2

Journal information: Nature Communications

© 2023 AFP

Citation: Back on the menu? Europeans once ate seaweed, research shows (2023, October 22) retrieved 7 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2023-10-menu-europeans-ate-seaweed.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Study reveals our European ancestors ate seaweed and freshwater plants

14 shares

Feedback to editors