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| Fat choy | |
|---|---|
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| Nostoc flagelliforme under a microscope | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Kingdom: | Bacillati |
| Phylum: | Cyanobacteriota |
| Class: | Cyanophyceae |
| Order: | Nostocales |
| Family: | Nostocaceae |
| Genus: | Nostoc |
| Species: | N. flagelliforme |
| Binomial name | |
| Nostoc flagelliforme | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| Fat choy | |||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 髮菜 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 发菜 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "hair vegetable" | ||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 頭毛菜 | ||||||||||||||
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Fat choy (traditional Chinese:髮菜;simplified Chinese:发菜;pinyin:fàcài;Jyutping:faat³ coi³;Nostoc flagelliforme) is a terrestrialcyanobacterium (a type ofphotosyntheticbacteria) that is used as a vegetable inChinese cuisine. When dried, the product has the appearance of blackhair. For that reason, its name in Chinese means "hair vegetable". When soaked, fat choy has a soft texture which is like very finevermicelli.
Fat choy grows on the ground in theGobi Desert and theQinghai Plateau.Over-harvesting on the Mongolian steppes has furtherederosion anddesertification in those areas. The Chinese government has limited its harvesting, which has caused its price to increase.[2][needs update?]
Commercially available fat choy has been found to be adulterated with strands of a non-cellular starchy material, with other additives and dyes.[2][3] Real fat choy is dark green in color, while the counterfeit fat choy appears black.[2]
Its name inCantonese sounds like a Cantonese phrase meaning "struck it rich" (though the second syllable,coi, has a differenttone) -- this is found, for example, in the Cantonese saying, "Gung1 hei2 faat3 coi4" (恭喜發財, meaning "wishing you prosperity"), often proclaimed duringChinese New Year. Therefore, it is a popular ingredient for Chinese New Year dishes, such as in thereunion dinner. It is mostly used inCantonese cuisine andBuddhist cuisine. It is sometimes used as ahot pot ingredient.
Due to its high price, fat choy is considered a luxury food, and only used in limited occasions. It is not eaten as a staple.[4]
N. flagelliforme has no nutritional value,[dubious –discuss] and also containsbeta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), a toxicamino acid that could affect the normal functions of nerve cells and is linked to degenerative diseases such asALS,Alzheimer's,Parkinson's, anddementia.[5] Not all realfat choy samples contain BMAA according to a 2009 study, with the maximum concentration being 658.5 ng/g. Imitationfat choy does not contain BMAA.[4]
Across a 28-day duration, laboratory rats fedN. flagelliforme and the control group did not exhibit significant differences in any toxicological parameters.[6]
The algae and its extracts reduce the inflammatory action of white blood cells, specifically macrophages and splenocytes,in vitro.[7]
