Monday, January 9, 2012

Dulse in the smoothie, dulse in the juice

Dulse grows attached by its discoid holdfast to the stipes of laminaria or to rocks. It has a short stipe, fronds are variable. Color is deep-rose to reddish-purple. It is delicate yet leathery in texture. The flat blade gradually expands and divides into broad segments ranging from 50 cm long and 30 - 8 cms in width. The flat frond is wedge-shaped with branches or proliferations from the edge. North Atlantic dulse, between 6 and 12 inches long, grows on rocks in the intertidal region and is harvest at low tide. An iridescent marine plant, dulse is harvested by hand and sun dried. It requires six hours of sunshine to dehydrate properly.

Dulse contains the highest, natural source of iodine found in nature and also is one of the few colloidal plants that contain over 92 trace minerals.