North Carolina nori 

 receives high marks 



(Continued from page 1) 



During its lifetime, nori has essentially two life 

 phases. In warmer months, it grows as tiny micro- 

 scopic filaments known as conchoceli. Sometimes 

 these filamentous blobs appear as dark stains on 

 oyster shells. With the arrival of cooler weather, dur- 



Nori blade (drawing by D. Kapraun) 



ing late October and November in North Carolina, the 

 combination of shorter days, lower light intensity 

 and cold temperatures triggers a change in the algae 

 and the conchoceli begin to develop into ribbon or 

 leaf-like blades. Within a month the blades are ready 

 to harvest 



Yet the species of nori in North Carolina has an in- 

 teresting twist to it. Unlike the nori found in the 

 Orient, the plant can reproduce and form both phases 

 from either the blade or conchocelis. 



"The Porphyra doesn't have any sex," explains 

 Kapraun. The finding is important for many reasons. 

 Aside from the purely scientific aspect, it may mean 

 that nori can be heavily harvested without any affect 

 on population since new blades or new conchoceli are 

 formed from microscopic spores left in the water. 



Because the blades mature in about four weeks, it 

 also may be possible to harvest three crops per year — 



one in January, another in February and a third in 

 March. This is an important advantage since it takes 

 about 10 pounds of the fresh nori to manufacture one 

 dry pound. 



Nutritionally, North Carolina's nori may be on the 

 same par as the Japanese Grade A variety. With the 

 technical assistance of Dr. Carl Lundeen, a biochem- 

 ist at UNC-W and biology student Doug Luster, 

 Kapraun has been able to analyze the protein, lipid 

 and carbohydrate content of the plant. Although 

 further tests are needed, nori rated better than 37 

 percent protein per dry gram in initial studies. 



According to Kapraun, one of the biggest advan- 

 tages of the nori found in North Carolina is its dis- 

 tinctive appearance. No other leafy marine alga in 

 North Carolina has a red-purple color. 



Although nori also is found in the Northeast and 

 along the West Coast, Kapraun doesn't think that it 

 will be economical to harvest the plant in those areas 

 because of the time and labor involved in segregating 

 it from the many other similar plants that grow 

 there. "It would be more like mushroom picking than 

 berry picking because the flora is so rich," he ex- 

 plains. 



Ironically nori seems to grow best in waters that 

 have been polluted by organic wastes, such as sewage 

 and agricultural runoff. Unfortunately, that could 

 make the plant dangerous to eat. In North Carolina 

 today more than 450,000 acres of estuarine waters 

 are closed to shellfishing due to pollution, both 

 natural and man-caused. 



While plants do not generally concentrate viruses, 

 Kapraun stresses that studies must be done to see 

 whether the nori accumulates pathogenic bacteria, 

 viruses or even toxic substances discharged into the 

 waters where it grows. 



And there are other aspects of the plant's biology 

 that need to be better understood. 



Researchers still are not certain just how much 

 nori actually exists in North Carolina and how far its 

 range extends. Natural populations of the plant may 

 be too limited to support a commercial operation. If 

 this is true, Kapraun believes that it may then be 

 possible to enhance the amount of habitat available 

 to the plant by actually creating shallow, shelly bot- 

 toms where it can grow in greater abundance. One 

 alternative, he suggests, is the selective use of dredge 

 spoil to create suitable bottom areas. 



In Japan the demand for nori is so great that it is 

 cultured and grown on huge networks of rope. 

 Through an expensive and labor intensive process, 

 the plant is harvested, shredded and dried in sheets. 

 While this is not economically feasible in North Caro- 

 lina, Kapraun thinks that enhancement of natural 

 areas may be a key to establishing a viable nori in- 

 dustry in North Carolina. Japanese importers/ex- 

 porters already have expressed an interest in his 

 research. And nori is becoming a popular food item in 

 many specialty stores in the United States. 



With dried nori selling for $2.00 to $3.80 an ounce 

 and as the search for additional sources of high 

 protein food continues, it's a subject that may be of 

 growing interest to many North Carolinians as well. 



