Spiral seaweed leaves are not wakame. Spirulina is a small deep-sea green algae. It is a green algae like chlorella. The trace elements it contains are similar to the cyanobacteria Spirulina platensis. It grows in salt water waters. As early as 1960, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations proposed the use of edible highly nutritious seaweed to cope with food shortages and eliminate hunger. Later, edible spirulina and chlorella were promoted on a large scale. Spiral seaweed can be divided into main branches, side branches and short branches. There are microalgae bones in the middle of the algae. The algae are emerald green or dark green. The surface is rich in chlorophyll for sunlight photosynthesis. There are regularly arranged spiral single cells in the epidermis.

Wakame belongs to the order Laminaria, class Phaeodaria, and is a eukaryotic organism, similar in appearance to kelp. Spirulina belongs to the class Cyanobacteria, which is a type of lower prokaryotes. Wakame is a brown algae plant in the family Laminariaceae. Seaweed is very similar in appearance to kelp, so many people mistakenly think that wakame is kelp, but they are actually two different foods. Moreover, the taste and nutritional value of wakame are higher than that of kelp.

Grows on rocks at a depth of 1 to 4 meters below the low tide line. Distributed in coastal areas such as Shandong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Liaoning. It has dual uses as food and medicine, mainly food. It can be eaten fresh or dried in summer and autumn for later use. Wakame is mainly produced in Luda and Jin County in Liaoning Province, Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai and other places in Shandong Province, and is also produced in Zhoushan Islands in Zhejiang Province. In addition to natural reproduction, artificial breeding has begun. The naturally grown wakame in Lushun has the best quality due to its strategic location. The nutrition of the selected wakame is comparable to that of spirulina and is called "natural spirulina" in Japan.