The difference between Kunbu and kelp

Kunbu is not very different from kelp, and it can also be said to be the same substance, but Kunbu is often used as a medicine, while kelp is used to eat, both of which contain more iodine and other trace elements. Regular consumption can prevent diseases such as hypothyroidism, and can also dispel fat and reduce blood pressure and resolve phlegm and cough. Let's take a look at the difference between Kunbu and kelp.

Is Kunbu the same as kelp?

There is a strict difference in botany between kelp and Kunbu. Kunbu algae is yellowish brown, and there was no kelp in ancient China. Kelp is collectively referred to as Kunbu in Japanese, and some botanical books and regions in China also say that kelp is also called Kunbu, so there is nothing wrong with saying that kelp and Kunbu are the same thing, because both belong to the order Laminaria. It is also right to say that it is not the same thing, because the two are different at the species level. Because the plant taxonomic name is somewhat confused and the shape is very similar, coupled with the fact that kelp is introduced from Japan, and in Japanese, Kunbu means kelp, and in English, kelp also refers to both kelp and Kunbu, so kelp and Kunbu are often confused.

The difference between Kunbu and kelp

1. Families and genera: kelp is a more common name, which is biologically divided into kelp genera of kelp family, in which kelp is divided into four families: Chorophyllaceae, kelp family, pterygiaceae and macroalgae family. Kunbu is a genus of Phaeophyta Laminidae, so Kunbu and kelp are not "brothers", but "cousins".

2. Appearance: kelp twists and turns into a ball or entangled into a handle, all dark brown or green brown, with white frost on the surface. If soaked in water, it will expand into a flat and long band, the middle is thicker, the edge is thin and wavy, leathery, the remaining handle is flat and cylindrical, fishy and salty. Kunbu curl and wrinkle into an irregular ball, all black, thin, soaked in water, then expand into a flat leaf shape, pinnately split on both sides, lobes long tongue-like, with small teeth or entire edge, smooth.

What kinds of Kunbu do you have?

1. Kunbu: the algae are olive brown, dark brown after drying, and leathery after maturity. There are two shallow grooves parallel to each other in the middle of the leaf. The thicker part in the middle of the two grooves is the "middle band part", and the edges on both sides are thinning and wavy folds. The leaf base is cuneate, and the thick stage is flat and round, with a cylindrical or oblate short handle below. The fixator is composed of forked branched roots, and the spores mature in autumn.

2. Black Kunbu: the algae are dark brown to dark brown, leathery, the Thallus is flat and broad, slightly thick in the middle, pinnately parted from both sides, lobes long tongue or longer, slightly wrinkled, the edges are generally coarsely serrated. Petiole stem-shaped, Terete or slightly flattened, 4-12 cm long and 3-8 mm in diameter. The fixator consists of bifurcate branched roots. the sporangia are formed in early summer and the spores mature in autumn.

3. Undaria pinnatifida: the algae is yellowish brown, soft leathery, the foliage is flattened, there are obvious raised ribs in the middle, and the two sides are thinner and softer, forming many pinnate lobes, or uneven in size, but not serrated. There are many small black spots scattered on the leaf surface, which are the opening of mucous cells to the epidermis. At maturity, there are fungus-like overlapping folded sporophytes on both sides of the lower petiole, sticky and thick, with dense sporangia on top. A fixator consisting of forked branched roots at the lower end of the petiole.