Wakame is called sea cabbage in the wet market and spirulina in the supermarket.

Wakame belongs to the phylum Phaeophyta, Phaeozoa, Laminales, Pterophyceae, and the genus Undaria. It is a seaweed plant with green leaves with pinnate lobes. The leaves are thinner than kelp. It looks like a big sunflower fan or a skirt, so it is named after it. Undaria pinnatifida was called dish 虙虙 in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" of the Song Dynasty of my country, and its pronunciation became Undaria pinnatifida. There are two types: light dry and salty dry. Wakame is a seaweed of the brown algae plant Laminariaceae and is known as a sea vegetable.

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" by Japan.

Wakame is often called "the vegetable of the sea" in some European and American countries. Indeed, the seaweed floating in the sea is indeed reminiscent of vegetables on land. Like land plants, wakame forms the carbohydrates that make up its own skeleton through photosynthesis (land plants are cellulose, wakame is alginic acid, algin and other polysaccharides), and directly produce protein through nitrogen assimilation , this is exactly the same as vegetables. However, if you carefully observe its life history, you will find that wakame is actually very different from land plants.

The split leaves of wakame and the middle rib (stem) running through the center of the split leaves. The split leaves are also called blades. They are located on both sides of the middle rib and are the main parts we usually eat. The middle rib is also called the wakame stem. It is located in the middle of the leaf and plays a supporting role for the leaf. It is also used for food. Further down is the growth zone where the growth points of the leaves of the wakame are located, which is equivalent to the bottom of the stems of land plants. During the reproductive season of the wakame, the reproductive organs of the wakame - sporophylls (commonly known as "ears") will be produced. , and the root (false root) is located at the bottom.

If we only look at the appearance, we would probably think that there is no big difference from land plants, but in fact the biggest difference lies in their functions. The main function of the roots of land plants is to support and fix themselves while also absorbing nutrients from the soil. The main function of the roots of wakame is to attach to rocks and other objects, and only plays a role in fixing the algae. So where do the nutrients come from? It is mainly done through the leaves, that is, the split leaves.

Wakame mainly relies on its leaves to absorb nitrogen, calcium, phosphate and other nutrients necessary for growth from seawater, and then synthesizes, utilizes and transforms them in the body. In addition, the type of cellulose synthesized by photosynthesis is different from the cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, etc. of land plants. The main products synthesized by photosynthesis of wakame are polysaccharides such as alginic acid and algin. , these polysaccharides have good curative effects in lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure and preventing adult diseases. Another major characteristic of Nematodea is that its reproductive method is completely different from that of land plants. For example, terrestrial higher plants produce offspring through mutual pollination of male and female stamens after flowering. But wakame cannot bloom and instead relies on zoospores to reproduce.