The sea
pantry

This sea honey comes from a marine plant called Ruppia maritima, extracted from the estuaries of Trebujena (Cadiz), ideal for its salinity. To obtain it, the plant is dried for two weeks, then it is atomised and added to water. Then, to dissolve the sugars, its pH is adjusted with calcium to increase the temperature of any remaining protein clots and the mixture is cleaned. The honey-like texture is obtained through evaporation at low temperature. This honey has the same nutritional properties as the usual honey, but with salty nuances that make it unique. Moreover, Ángel León has found the perfect ‘honeycomb’ for it in the Durvillaea antarctica seaweed.

For years, Aponiente has been working to obtain 100% marine oils obtained through lipid extractions from microalgae. After working for several years with these interesting extracts, this line has evolved to develop a coupage of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) with marine phytoplankton and harissa oils.

Fish scales represent a large part of the waste from fish cleaning. Currently, there are very few uses of these scales for human consumption. However, collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, a source of amino acids and is the largest part of the extracellular matrix. The fish scales cleaned at Aponiente are a source of collagen, which is used to generate gelatine sheets, gelling powders, emulsifiers and even proteins, very interesting proposals that turn a waste product into a product with enormous potential.

Marine bacon is made using the belly of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). This product has managed to take advantage of a by-product discarded by the sea bass processing industry, reusing the stomach to create a product similar to meat, but 100% marine and of high quality.

Aponiente is preparing a systematic catalogue of marine species (plants and animals), arranged in Phyla and Taxa, which can be used by humans, either by adapting their natural conditions ex situ, as has already been industrialised with marine phytoplankton.

Enhalus acoroides is a marine aquatic herbaceous plant that lives in a subtidal environment, forming part of the group of marine phanerogams; it was distributed by the Cossacks of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, which contains a robust rhizome, with persistent fibrous remains of the leaf sheaths, and whose fruits we could define with the name of sea chestnut.

This marine worm, Sipunculus nudus, with a size between 20 and 35 cm, lives in subtidal areas of sandy coasts. In our latitudes it has traditionally been used as fishing bait, but in Eastern cultures such as China or Vietnam it is a highly prized product for human consumption, with interesting organoleptic and nutritional characteristics.