Drying and Packaging
Proper and quick drying is an essential step of high-quality Spirulina production. Various types of drying systems are used in the industry for drying Spirulina. For economic reasons, the dryer of choice in large-scale Spirulina production facilities is the spray dryer. Freeze drying would give better overall product quality, but the cost is rather prohibitive. Spirulina droplets are sprayed into the drying chamber just long enough to flash evaporate the water. The powder is exposed to heat for...
Production Ponds
Mass culture of Spirulina is often conducted in large raceway ponds made of concrete or lined with reinforced plastic approved for use for potable water. This raceway design for outdoor mass cultivation of photosynthetic microorganisms was developed FIGURE 1.3 A schematic diagram of a Spirulina production system. FIGURE 1.3 A schematic diagram of a Spirulina production system. in the 1950s and is used widely in the industry.29-30 A detailed description of the design of the ponds is given by...
Farooq Sm And Spirulina
1. Ram rez-Moreno, L. and Olvera-Ram rez, R., Uso tradicional y actual de Spirulina sp. Arthrospira sp. , Interciencia, 31, 657, 2006. 2. S nchez, M. et al., Spirulina Arthrospira an edible microorganism. A review. Univer. Scient., 8, 7, 2003. 3. Khan, A., Bhadouria, P., and Bise, P.S., Nutritional and therapeutic potential of Spirulina, Curr. Pharm. Biotech., 6, 373, 2005. 4. Belay, A., Current knowledge on potential health benefits of Spirulina, J. Appl. Phycol., 5, 235, 1993. 5. Belay, A.,...
REGULATORY STATUS OF SPIRULINA GRAS Generally Recognized as Safe Status
Cyanotech Corporation of Hawaii and Earthrise Nutritionals LLC of California are the only Spirulina producers in the world that have determined their Spirulina as GRAS through scientific procedures and FDA review. GRAS is an acronym for the phrase Generally Recognized As Safe. Under sections 201 s and 409 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, any substance that is intentionally added to food is a food additive that is subject to premarket review and approval by FDA, unless the substance...
Biogenic Toxic Substances Toxins
The term toxin usually refers to a substance that is highly poisonous to other living organisms, and that comes from a protein or conjugated protein produced by plants, animals, fungi, and pathogenic bacteria.36'37 At least 12 different species of Cyanobacteria have been shown to produce different toxins38 affecting the nervous, hepatic, and dermatologic systems, although the mechanism of action is still unknown.39 Some Spirulina samples have been tested for aflatoxin, ochratoxin A,...
Spirulina Production Nature To Nurture
Most of the information that is used to grow Spirulina in outdoor culture is derived from observations made on natural blooms of these algae in natural lakes. Of special significance is their adaptation to highly alkaline up to 400 meq l and very high pH up to 11 of tropical and subtropical regions of the world. This harsh chemical environment essentially prohibits the growth of other algae. It is therefore not uncommon to find almost unialgal populations of Arthrospira in these lakes. The...
Largescale Commercial Production Of Spirulina
Although the development of the technology of outdoor mass production of Spirulina dates back to the 1970s, it is very recently that its production and utilization has expanded beyond a few countries or producers. This is because of the many constraints that had to be surmounted. These relate to some environmental, physical, chemical, and biological problems encountered in commercial production of algae. It is not within the scope of this chapter to provide details of these constraints. The...
References
1. Geitler, L. 1932 Cyanophyceae. In Rabenhorst's Kryptogamenflora von Deutschland, Ostereiich nd der Scheweiz, Vol. 14, pp. 916-931, Akad Verlag, Leipzig. 2. Gomont, M. 1892 Monographie des Oscillatoriees. Annales des Sciences Naturelles Botanique . Series 7, 15 91-264. 3. Guglielmi, G., Rippka, R. and Tandaeau De Marsac, N. 1993 Main properties that justify the different taxonomic position of Spirulina. spp. and Arthrospira spp. among cyanobacteria. Bull. Inst. Oceanogr. Monaco, 12 13-23. 4....
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Brian Wood who introduced me to the algae early in my college life and to my mentor, the late Professor G. E. Fogg, FRS. My thanks also go to past Earthrise associates, Yoshimichi Ota, Robert Henrikson, and Hidenori Shimamatsu for their constant encouragement. I am indebted to Juan Chavez and all current associates at Earthrise for their support and inspiration. I thank Jackie Montes and Mohammed Youssefi for their assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.