Facts about Laminara digitata

Laminaria digitata is a brown seaweed, to 2 m in length; with a claw-like holdfast, a smooth, flexible stipe, and a laminate blade to 1.5 m long split into finger-like segments. The stipe is oval in cross section and does not snap easily when bent.

Laminaria digitata is a North Atlantic Arctic-cold-temperate species which does not occur in the North Pacific. It is found along both coasts of the English Channel; the southernmost occurrence of this species in European waters is on the southern coasts of Brittany. Laminaria digitata grows along most coasts of Britain and Ireland, and along the North Sea coasts of Scandinavia. Its northerly range includes the Barents Sea and the western shores of Novaya Zemlya and has been reported to occur in the Svalbard Archipelago. Laminaria digitata also grows in Iceland, the Faroes, southern Greenland and the eastern coasts of North America, as far south as Cape Cod.

Laminaria digitata plants contain minerals, vitamins and trace elements. These include iodine, calcium, potassium, iron, carotene, alginic acid, laminarin, mannitol, protein, carotene, niacin, phosphorus, the B complex vitamins, vitamin C and many other trace elements. This species stores flavour-enhancing glutamic acid, or sodium glutamate, which imparts a mellow, silky taste to dishes. The slight sweet background is mannitol, a natural sugar. 

Over 40 companies from the UK, Ireland, Iceland, France, Italy, Germany, United States, Canada, and Australia are selling more than 100 different products which include Laminaria digitata as an ingredient. It is used commercially in alginate production, in personal care products, as a sea vegetable, in seasoning, nutritional supplement as well as in industrial applications, such as fertilizers and animal feed