What you really get from "lato"

What you really get from “lato”

By Dr. Dolores DG Fernandez
Chief SRS, PCAMRD

THE green seaweed (Caulerpa lentillifera), commonly known as “lato”, “lato-bilog”, “ar-arusip” has grape-like structure that is robust, crispy, watery, and slimy. But it is a good source of iron, iodine, calcium, and vitamins A and C.

It is also fêted as “sea grapes”, and cited in the Philippines ’ Food Composition Table with contents such as 96.7% moisture, 0.1% protein, 2.1% ash, 0.8% fiber, and 8% calories per 100 g sample.

Lato’s delicate structure disintegrates quickly and wilts when stored in normal condition, which is a big concern in distribution to foreign markets. In the northern areas of Luzon, it is usually sold fresh. Recently, brine-salted lato is being exported to Japan and the United States .

To determine the salted lato’s chances of introduction to foreign markets, a study to assess the stability of the chemical composition and sensory characteristics of lato in salty medium was undertaken by professor Gloria Gomez-Delan of Cebu State College of Science and Technology, and Dr. Manabu Asakawa of Hiroshima University in Japan.

The study showed that when treated with 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% salt concentrations, lato shrunk due to dehydration. Salting also reduces its quality due to loss of water, iodine, and vitamin A content. Higher salt concentration resulted to higher loss of water that made lato less juicy and less slimy, the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development in a monitoring report said.

Approximately 60% of lato’s iodine is lost at 30% salt concentration and 32.14% at the lowest concentration. The loss in iodine content is an important concern since it is essential to normal functioning of the thyroid gland in humans, which makes lato a health food to locals.

Earlier studies showed that vitamin A has very unstable nature and as much as 40% it is lost when exposed to air. Salting at 15% concentration resulted to about 30% loss of vitamin A and as high as 86.3% at 30% salt concentration. This means higher salt treatment on lato is unfavorable.

Further studies revealed that the toxicity level of caulerpicin, a toxic substance found in lato could be reduced or even eliminated at higher salt concentrations. Weakness, sleepiness, dizziness, trembling, scratching of the lips, standing furs, and death were among toxicity manifestations in mice injected with extracts from fresh and salt-treated lato samples.

Sensory evaluation also showed that the loss of natural taste of lato was caused by decrease in water content. Its color, odor, and general appearance, however, are stable even at higher salt concentrations.

While more toxicity studies on the seaweed are still ongoing, researchers say eating salted “lato” is safe.