Individual Presentation: Sugar Kelp as a Climate-Resilient Functional Food Ingredient: New Insights Into Its Wellness and Sensory Potential

As climate change and resource constraints intensify, the food industry is exploring new, low-impact ingredients that can support both nutritional needs and sustainable sourcing goals. Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) stands out as a particularly promising option. It contains a wide range of naturally occurring compounds (such as alginate, laminarin, fucoidan, fucoxanthin, and phlorotannins) that have been linked to antioxidant activity, prebiotic effects, metabolic support, and various functional roles in food stability and texture.This session synthesizes the latest scientific understanding of sugar kelp’s nutritional and functional potential using evidence from published research across food science, marine ecology, and health sciences. The discussion will cover how kelp-derived polysaccharides influence viscosity, gelling, water-binding capacity, and flavor perception; how bioactive compounds interact with metabolic and microbiome-related pathways to promote human health; and which processing factors affect their performance.By placing sugar kelp within the broader context of climate-resilient ingredient development and nutritional diversification, this session highlights opportunities for collaboration among food scientists, nutrition researchers, and processing specialists. The goal is to clarify where the science is strong, where further study is needed, and how this emerging marine crop may contribute to a more sustainable food system.