What is octopus ink

This review of five human studies on the Mediterranean diet examines its effects on weight loss, various diseases, and the risk of death. Here are their inhabitants' common lifestyle…. For many people, one of the best parts about traveling is getting to explore the local cuisines.

This article looks at 10 of the healthiest cuisines…. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. What it is Benefits Uses Recommendation Bottom line We include products we think are useful for our readers. Squid ink is a popular ingredient in Mediterranean and Japanese cuisine. It adds a distinct black-blue color and rich savory taste to dishes. However, you may wonder what exactly this ingredient is and whether you should eat it. This article explains what squid ink is and reviews its potential benefits and safety.

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The main component in Cephalopods ink is melanin. Sound familiar? This is because us humans have this same dark pigment that is responsible for the color of our hair and skin. How cool is that! This special dye is contained in an ink sac, but not all octopuses have an ink sac or the ability to produce ink.

Different species of cephalopods also produce different colors of ink as well. Typically octopus and squid produce black ink, but ink can also be brown, reddish, or even a dark blue. Octopus and Squid use their ink as a defense mechanism to escape from prey. When feeling threatened, they can release large amounts of ink into the water using their siphon. This ink creates a dark cloud that can obscure the predators view so the cephalopod can jet away quickly.

Talk about a double whammy! Believe it or not humans have also found ways to use cephalopod ink. The practice of grinding these fossilised ink sacs in order to produce ink has become something of a tradition with more recent examples of fossils drawn in their own ink from and The earliest ink sacs appear in the fossil record in the Carboniferous period around million years ago in cephalopods such as Donovaniconus, Gordoniconus and Saundersites which show a mix of features from older and more modern groups and are placed in their own order, Donovaniconida Doguzhaeva Some of this early evidence is preserved as microscopic globules but whole ink sacs do occur and resemble the same shape as found in modern cephalopods Doguzhaeva et al.

Unfortunately, the physical and chemical changes to ink sacs as they decompose and fossilise normally means that the chemical signature of fossil ink sacs is not preserved, however, in one particular million year old cephalopod ink sac made the headlines well the science headlines as it seemed to have escaped much modification before fossilisation and consequently provided a unique window into what the ink was composed of Glass et al.

Amazingly, even within the limitations of the analytic techniques at the time, it was found to contain the same form of melanin as found in modern cephalopods. One theory is that melanin, which is extremely efficient in dissipating UV radiation, was originally involved in protecting the eyes or skin of cephalopods from light damage Derby Perhaps the excretion of excess melanin led to the development of a specific production chamber to generate it and BINGO! Unfortunately, this is one of those instances where the current fossil evidence and our tools and techniques for analysing them come up short.

Irrespective of how the ink sac evolved cephalopods have possessed them for over million years. Bush, S. Ink utilization by mesopelagic squid. Marine Biology.

Derby, C. Marine Drugs , 12, Doguzhaeva, L. Occurrence of Ink in Palaeozoic and Mesozoic coleoids Cephalopoda. Palaeontology , Vol. Evolutionary patterns of Carboniferous coleoid cephalopods based on their diversity and morphological plasticity.

In Tanabe et al. Cephalopods - Present and Past. Tokai University Press, Tokyo, Summeseberger, H. In Landman, N. Glass, K.