News in Press-centre

Researchers of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) developed the original technology of marmalade production from unique Far Eastern ingredients. The new dessert is prepared with the Laminaria algae decoction and consists of freshly squeezed juice of forest berries, boiled petioles of Japanese butterbur, and agar. Marmalade is characterized by a high content of vitamins, dietary fiber, and a small amount of sugar.

The developer Svetlana Zhuravleva, Associate Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Biomedicine, Far Eastern Federal University, says that the recipe for marmalade differs significantly from the known ones. The main feature is the use of Laminaria algae decoction as the main component.

“Decoctions of Laminaria Japonica, Laminaria saccharina and Laminaria digitata are very valuable sources of biologically active substances. They contain a significant amount of mineral macro- and micronutrients, among which are such valuable as iodine, iron, zinc, magnesium, calcium, and others,” said Svetlana Zhuravleva.

To give a vivid taste and color, the product uses juice of cranberry, cowberry, sandthorn, and other Far Eastern berries. A flavor is the inclusion in the recipe of young petioles of the Japanese butterbur (Petasites Japonicus), an exotic plant that grows mainly on Sakhalin Island. Pieces of butterbur constitute about 2-6% of the mass of the ready marmalade.

The developers note that the new product is characterized by a high content of vitamins, dietary fiber and preserves the ability of the marmalade to retain the desired form with the minimum amount of sugar-containing components.

“In tasting evaluation it was established that the marmalade has a delicate, transparent structure, does not contain sugar crystals, the surface is smooth and shiny. Marmalade is easily bitten off, and also has a sweet-sour taste and pleasant smell, typical to the berry juices. At the same time, the smell of seaweed is barely noticeable,” said one of the developers Vladimir Lyakh, Assistant Professor, FEFU School of Biomedicine.

The following staff members of the FEFU Department of Food Science and Technology also took part in the development: Elena Novitskaya, Tatiana Boytsova, and Tamara Parfenova. Two patents have been issued for the new technology.

Researchers of the FEFU Schools of Biomedicine are the authors of numerous developments of new food products based on marine hydrobionts. In the line of innovative recipes are salads, sausages and nano-chocolate with seaweed, bakery and jelly products and drinks with extracts of green algae, paté with cucumber, sauces based on marine additives, and others.