1. Introduction
Marine macroalgae have a long history of use as food and folk medicine in Asia, but are much less common in Europe and North America, as a part of the diet. Only a few species are harvested for direct human consumption in limited coastal regions. Palmaria palmata (dulse) is one of the most widely distributed edible seaweeds in Iceland and was an important source of food supply when food variety was scarce in earlier times according to documentaries (Kristjánsson, 1980). Nowadays, dulse is mainly consumed as snacks and sold in health stores, but there is growing awareness that it should be utilized more as a source of important