The Benefits of Squid Ink

What Are The Benefits of Squid Ink

Squid ink is a food additive that might seem exotic to the American palate but is relatively common in Mediterranean dishes. While it doesn't have a lot to offer nutritionally, it's a safe ingredient that can add flavor without many of the unhealthy substances found in chemical additives. Researchers, meanwhile, are looking into curative effects that could be locked inside some of the compounds that make up the ink.

Identification

Squids use ink as a defense mechanism, squirting it from a sac inside their body to confuse and ward off predators. In cuisine, particularly in Italian or other Mediterranean cooking, chefs use this ink in rice and pasta dishes to impart coloring and flavor. You probably won't find the ink at your standard grocery store, though you can find it through gourmet shops and some Italian or fish markets, either in small packets or jars. You also can harvest it yourself from a fresh squid's ink sac, although the sacs in most squids you buy commercially will be empty. Many varieties of squid ink you buy commercially actually are the ink from a cuttlefish, a cephalopod closely related to the squid.

Benefits

In cooking, squid ink benefits boil down largely to taste and presentation enhancements. The ink gives pasta and rice a distinct black coloring and a mild briny taste. Its flavor comes largely from glutamic acid, an amino acid also present in fish sauce and other food additives that adds a savory flavor to dishes. Natural glutamic acid, such as that in squid ink, differs from its synthetic cousin monosodium glutamate in that it does not contain the impurities that your body cannot process, according to the Truth in Labeling Campaign. Therefore, ink adds flavoring without containing anything particularly harmful to you, unless you are allergic to it.

Considerations

Nutritionally, squid ink largely is a neutral ingredient, a flavorful food coloring. Glutamic acid is a nonessential amino acid, meaning your body can make it on its own and doesn't need it from dietary sources. The coloring comes from melanin, a natural pigment. If you're watching sodium levels, be aware that some squid ink comes with added salt. Most recipes that call for squid ink use only a few tablespoons in a dish that serves four or more people, however, so you should be more concerned about the nutrition of the rest of the dish -- whether whole grain or refined pasta was used, for example, or the fat and sodium content of any accompanying sauce. Since it's a relatively difficult and expensive ingredient to procure, you're not likely to overindulge in it, anyway.

Potential

Outside of culinary use, squid ink has shown some promise in medicinal purposes, particularly in cancer treatments. A 2008 study at Shandong University's School of Ocean Sciences showed that an isolated substance from the ink can slow the growth of tumors. A few years later, a study published in "Carbohydrate Polymers" showed that same substance can stop cell tumor cells from invading and migrating, meaning it can slow the spread of cancer. As a result, the substance could someday be of use in treatments preventing cancer metastasis.

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