View source for Fat choy

{{Short description|Species of edible, terrestrial cyanobacterium}}
{{Redirect|Facai|the villages in [[Romania]]|Făcăi (disambiguation){{!}}Făcăi}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=September 2023}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Fat choy
| image = Nostoc_flagelliforme_microscope.jpg
| image_alt = "Nostoc flagelliforme" under a microscope
| image_caption = ''Nostoc flagelliforme'' under a microscope
| status = 
| status_system = 
| status_ref = 
| genus = Nostoc
| species = flagelliforme
| authority = [[William Henry Harvey|Harv.]] ex [[Eduardo Antonio Molinari-Novoa|Molinari]], [[Juan Diego Calvo-Pérez|Calvo-Pérez]] & [[Michael Dominic Richard Guiry|Guiry]], 2016<ref name="Calvo-Pérez">{{cite journal |last1=Calvo-Pérez |first1=Juan Diego |last2=Molinari-Novoa |first2=Eduardo A. |last3=Guiry |first3=Michael D. |author-link3=Michael D. Guiry |title=Validation of ''Nostoc flagelliforme'' (Nostocaceae, Cyanobacteria) |journal=Notulae Algarum |date=23 March 2016 |issue=2 |pages=1–2 |url=http://www.notulaealgarum.com/documents/Notulae%20Algarum%20No.%202.pdf |access-date=15 January 2019 |language=en |issn=2009-8987}}</ref>
| synonyms = 
*''[[Nematonostoc]] flagelliforme'' <small>([[Jean-Baptiste Édouard Bornet|Bornet]] & [[Charles Flahault|Flahault]]) [[William Nylander (botanist)|Nylander]] ex [[Alexander Elenkin|Elenkin]] 1934</small>
*''Nostoc commune'' [[Variety (botany)|var.]] ''flagelliforme'' <small>[[Jean-Baptiste Édouard Bornet|Bornet]] & [[Charles Flahault|Flahault]], 1886</small>
| synonyms_ref = <ref name="Calvo-Pérez"/>
| subdivision_ranks = 
| subdivision = 
}}
{{Infobox Chinese|pic=faat_choy.jpg|picsize=200px|t=髮菜|s=发菜|p=fàcài|mi={{IPAc-cmn|f|a|4|.|c|ai|4}}|j=faat3 coi3|y=faat choi|l="hair vegetable"|t2=頭毛菜|poj2=thâu-mn̂g-chhài}}

'''Fat choy''' ({{zh|t=髮菜|s=发菜|first=t|p=fàcài|j=faat³ coi³}}; '''''Nostoc flagelliforme''''') is a terrestrial [[Cyanobacteria|cyanobacterium]] (a type of [[Photosynthesis|photosynthetic]] [[bacteria]]) that is used as a vegetable in [[Chinese cuisine]].  When dried, the product has the appearance of black [[hair]]. For that reason, its name in Chinese means "hair vegetable". When soaked, fat choy has a soft texture which is like very fine [[vermicelli]].

==Production==
Fat choy grows on the ground in the [[Gobi Desert]] and the [[Qinghai Plateau]]. [[Over-harvesting]] on the Mongolian steppes has furthered [[erosion]] and [[desertification]] in those areas. The Chinese government has limited its harvesting, which has caused its price to increase.<ref name="Standard37176"/>{{Update inline|date=January 2025|?=yes|reason=article cited is from 2007}}

Commercially available fat choy has been found to be adulterated with strands of a non-cellular starchy material, with other additives and dyes.<ref name="Standard37176">{{cite news |title=The standard.com.hk |url=http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=37176&sid=11956724&con_type=1 |access-date=22 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122003910/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=37176&sid=11956724&con_type=1 |archive-date=November 22, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://waynesword.palomar.edu/cyano1.htm |title=Waynesword |access-date=2004-11-07 |archive-date=2004-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041010160055/http://waynesword.palomar.edu/cyano1.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Real fat choy is dark green in color, while the counterfeit fat choy appears black.<ref name="Standard37176" />

== Use ==

===China===
Its name in [[Cantonese]] sounds like a Cantonese phrase meaning "struck it rich" (though the second syllable, ''coi'', has a different [[Tonal language|tone]]) -- this is found, for example, in the Cantonese saying, "''[[Chinese New Year#Greetings|Gung1 hei2 faat3 coi4]]''" ([[wikt:恭喜發財|恭喜發財]], meaning "wishing you prosperity"), often proclaimed during [[Chinese New Year]]. Therefore, it is a popular ingredient for Chinese New Year dishes, such as in the [[reunion dinner]]. It is mostly used in [[Cantonese cuisine]] and [[Buddhist cuisine]]. It is sometimes used as a [[hot pot]] ingredient.

Due to its high price, fat choy is considered a luxury food, and only used in limited occasions. It is not eaten as a staple.<ref name=pmid19929731>{{cite journal |last1=Roney |first1=BR |last2=Renhui |first2=L |last3=Banack |first3=SA |last4=Murch |first4=S |last5=Honegger |first5=R |last6=Cox |first6=PA |title=Consumption of fa cai Nostoc soup: a potential for BMAA exposure from Nostoc cyanobacteria in China? |journal=Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis |date=2009 |volume=10 |issue=Suppl 2 |pages=44–9 |doi=10.3109/17482960903273031 |pmid=19929731|s2cid=2893117 }}</ref>

==Health effects==
''N. flagelliforme'' has no nutritional value,{{dubious|reason=Too absolute, unlikely to be completely devoid of bioavailable nutrients. "No useful value at the amounts eaten and any benefit outweighted by BMAA" is more possible.|date=September 2023}} and also contains [[beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine]] (BMAA), a toxic [[amino acid]] that could affect the normal functions of nerve cells and is linked to degenerative diseases such as [[ALS]], [[Alzheimer's disease|Alzheimer's]], [[Parkinson's disease|Parkinson's]], and [[dementia]].<ref>[http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=37176&sid=11956724&con_type=1 The standard.com.hk. Mimi Lau,  January 30, 2007, ''Ban sought on Lunar delicacy'']  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122003910/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=37176&sid=11956724&con_type=1 |date=November 22, 2007 }}</ref> Not all real ''fat choy'' samples contain BMAA according to a 2009 study, with the maximum concentration being  658.5&nbsp;[[nanogram|ng]]/g. Imitation ''fat choy'' does not contain BMAA.<ref name=pmid19929731/>

Across a 28-day duration,  laboratory rats fed ''N. flagelliforme'' and the control group did not exhibit significant differences in any toxicological parameters.{{sfn|Takenaka|1998}}

The algae and its extracts reduce the inflammatory action of white blood cells, specifically macrophages and splenocytes, ''in vitro''.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.bbagen.2013.01.018 | title = Edible blue-green algae reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by inhibiting NF-κB pathway in macrophages and splenocytes | year = 2013 | last1 = Ku | first1 = Lee | journal = Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects | volume = 1830 | issue = 4 | pages = 2981–2988 | pmid=23357040 | pmc=3594481}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

*{{cite journal |last1=But |first1=Paul Pui-Hay |last2=Cheng |first2=Ling |last3=Chan |first3=Pui Kwan |last4=Lau |first4=David Tai-Wai |last5=But |first5=Joyce Wing-Hin |title=''Nostoc flagelliforme'' and faked items retailed in Hong Kong |journal=Journal of Applied Phycology |date=2002 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=143–145 |doi=10.1023/a:1019518329032 |bibcode=2002JAPco..14..143B |s2cid=6195505 |language=en |issn=0921-8971}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Takenaka |first1=H. |last2=Yamaguchi |first2=Y. |last3=Sakaki |first3=S. |last4=Watarai |first4=K. |last5=Tanaka |first5=N. |last6=Hori |first6=M. |last7=Seki |first7=H. |last8=Tsuchida |first8=M. |last9=Yamada |first9=A. |last10=Nishimori |first10=T. |last11=Morinaga |first11=T. |title=Safety evaluation of Nostoc flagelliforme (nostocales, Cyanophyceae) as a potential food |journal=Food and Chemical Toxicology (United Kingdom) |date=1 December 1998 |volume=36 |issue=12 |pages=1073–1077 |doi=10.1016/S0278-6915(98)00089-1 |pmid=9862649 |url=http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=GB1999006166 |access-date=22 October 2018 |language=en |issn=0278-6915 |ref=CITEREFTakenaka1998 |archive-date=22 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022232721/http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=GB1999006166 |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription }}

== External links ==
*{{cite web |title=Cyanobacteria Photos |url=http://waynesword.palomar.edu/cyano1.htm |website=waynesword.palomar.edu |access-date=22 October 2018 |archive-date=10 October 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041010160055/http://waynesword.palomar.edu/cyano1.htm |url-status=dead }}
*{{cite news |title=food for thought |url=http://sg.bcmagazine.net/cgi-bin/output.cgi?issue=027&&id=14 |access-date=22 October 2018 |agency=sg.bcmagazine.net |date=1 February 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040201154650/http://sg.bcmagazine.net/cgi-bin/output.cgi?issue=027&&id=14 |archive-date=1 February 2004}}

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{{Taxonbar|from=Q3273745|from2=Q11286530|from3=Q67345167}}

[[Category:Vegetables]]
[[Category:Chinese New Year foods]]
[[Category:Nostocaceae]]