(ANSA) - ROME, MARCH 25 - From hate enemies of bathers a potential resource.
Traditional dish in China and various Southeast Asian countries, jellyfish in Europe are not yet authorized for food use.
Yet, they are a source of proteins, low in calories and fat, contain precious elements such as amino acids, magnesium and potassium, have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
And they could also be greedy, suggest the chefs involved in the book "EuropeanJellyfish - First recipes based on Western-style jellyfish", published by Cnr Edizioni - Public Relations Communication Unit and edited by Antonella Leon of the Institute of Science of Food Production (Ispa) of the Council research institute of Lecce within the European project "GoJelly".
The book - available as a flipbook at the link https://doi.org/10.48257/BLE-001 and downloadable for free in Italian and English - is presented to the public on Monday 29 March with an online event broadcast from 5pm on the Facebook and YouTube channels of the Communication Unit. eRelations with the public.
Researchers and chefs will guide the public towards a new perception of these marine creatures.
"After the evaluation of the application by the Commission and the favorable opinion of the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) - explains Antonella Leone (Cnr-Ispa), researcher involved in the project for Italy - jellyfish will be able to be marketed and consumed".
"For years, through the Go Jelly project funded under the Horizon 2020 Program, the international scientific community - continues Leone - has been committed to studying jellyfish as a sustainable resource".
Today, with the seas less and less abundant with fish and the increasing presence of jellyfish - due in part to the overexploitation of fish populations, and in part to factors such as the increase in water temperatures and the acidification of the oceans - there is an opportunity to use them as "novel food" also in the West: "In the Far East these animals have been used for over 2,000 years, with a significant impact on the economy as well. With a world population growing at an exponential rate - in the face of food production that increases much more slowly - identify new and sustainable food resources is, in fact, an inevitable challenge ", concludes Leone.
(HANDLE).