Jellyfish and Humans: Not Just Negative Interactions

In many coastal areas local increases in jellyfish populations are becoming recurrent phenomena due to climate change and several anthropogenic stressors, including eutrophication and pollution. Jellyfish blooms are often responsible for negative impacts on the marine environment and human activities: nevertheless, they can become a bioactive compounds. In addition, due to their high content of compounds with antioxidant activity and other different beneficial effects, jellyfish can be also successfully used for cosmetic, biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Besides this, jellyfish could be exploited in other industrial sectors as crops fertilizer, biofuel or as additive in cement fabrication. In Southeastern Asian Countries, where jellyfish as food is a consolidated tradition, several hundred tons of jellyfish are caught per year. Recently, due to the development of jellyfish harvesting even outside Asia the estimated annual catch is rising. However, such official data seem to be dramatically underestimated. In addition, jellyfish breeding and aquaculture were developed with the aim to make jellyfish biomass available all year round. At least 20 different species of jellyfish are consumed by humans, the most appreciated belonging to the Rhizostomatidae family. Recently, some Mediterranean taxa such as Cotylorhiza and Aurelia spp., have received attention as sources of bioactive compounds or food resource. In Southeast Asia, jellyfish undergo a processing treatment that traditionally involves the use of alum salts, and are sold as salted (traditional product) or as "ready to eat" products. Currently, jellyfish-based products marketed in the EU within Chinese communities are affected by traceability issues, and mislabeling has been frequently reported. Moreover, jellyfish products may also present chemical hazards, due to alum salts in their processing. Therefore, a risk assessment procedure should be conducted to investigate the potential impacts on consumer's health and regulate their commercialization. Because of their nutritional and healthy properties, jellyfish have the potential to become an appreciated food by different consumers’ categories. Improving the processing methodologies will enlarge the jellyfish market to Western Countries turning jellyfish into a globally approved “novel food.”