Background Information

Spirulina is derived from the Latin word "spiral". Spirulina is a microalgae plankton vegetable food which is both ancient and new. It has recently been receiving much attention as a health food which has a high nutritive value and has been well tested in Japan for its medical benefits. It has been utilized as an everyday food in both Mexico and Africa since ancient times and with the modernization of the food industry it is today being added daily to foods such as cheese, soup, seaweed (nor), ice cream, chocolate, and grains. In particular the Mexican government in 1973 approved and licensed Spirulina through the equivalent of its FDA as an edible foodstuff after testing it for palatability and toxicity and recommending it for daily use in the home. Moreover, in France, palatability tests are now being conducted along with other efforts to give Spirulina its place in modern food processing.

The cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis can be cultivated autotrophically for the production of biomass with high protein content. Technologically it exhibits advantages in the methods of cultivation. Among these, the capability to grow under alkaline and highly salty conditions is an important factor in the prevention of external contamination, while the easy separation of biomass from the cultivation medium, because of its spiral form and large size, reduces the costs of its recovery.

Spirulina requires less energy input per kilo than soy, corn or beef, including solar and generated energy. Its energy efficiency is 5 times higher than soy, 2 times higher than corn, and over 100 times higher than grain-fed beef.

Composition of Spirulina

Spirulina is very high in protein, very low in calories and cholesterol, and high in minerals (iron, calcium, sodium and magnesium), and phenolic acids, which have antioxidant properties. It is a complete protein source since it contains almost all the essential amino acids (the ones we cannot synthesize by ourselves), though with reduced amounts of methionine, cysteine, and lysine when compared to the proteins of meat, eggs, and milk. It is, however, superior to typical plant protein, such as that from legumes. It offers good digestibility and a low nucleic acid concentration (smaller that 5%).Besides, it contains vitamins A, B, C, E, and K, polyunsaturated fatty acids, carotenoids, and other antioxidants.

Spirulina Cultivation Unit in the Madura College

Spirulina Cultivation Unit in the Madura College was funded by Madura College Board and maintained by The Department of Biotechnology. Three tanks were constructed. The tank 1 was first inoculated on 24th March 2022. The mother inoculum of Spirulina platentis was received from S S Biotech, Andarkottaram with which MoU was signed. The students of the

Biotechnology department are trained to maintain the culture, right from the media preparation, maintaining the culture, harvest and preserving the biomass. III B.Sc., students on a turn duty maintain the culture. On 01.04.2022 the production media was added to the tank 1 based on the wet biomass. Subsequently the 2nd and 3rd tank were inoculated and maintained. The students also monitor the pH of the culture and maintain it at pH 9.5 to 10.5.

Awareness program

To create an awareness among the students that Spirulina is edible and could be taken as a supplement or be added to any food in small quantity. Mushroom soup was prepared, sprinkled with Spirulina powder and served to all the students.

Challenges

Upon continuous maintenance of the tank the students, faced many challenges to maintain the culture. The challenges were both biotic and abiotic factors. The factors such as rainfall and acute summer drastically reduced the yield. The biotic challenges are rodents, and insects. To control the mosquito breeding, a wooden frame with a net was set. Every day in the evening the tank is closed with the net.

Environmental Benefits

Among the different strategies for mitigating CO2, biological CO2 mitigation through microalgae has recently received considerable attention due to their higher CO2 fixation capability and bioactive substances contained in their biomass. Spirulina being a photosynthetic organism are potent CO2 fixers.

Future Prospect

• Has to check the quality of Spirulina as food supplement.
• To motivate students to undertake projects with Spirulina – anti bacterial , anti- oxidant etc.
• To organise extension activities – to conduct workshops to students of other departments and other SHG women.