PRODUCTION & RESEARCH

Spirulina

Aquatic, Microscopic, Spiral shaped, Blue green Algae, Evolved 3.6 Billion years ago, Grows naturally in alkaline water and has been consumed for many years.

Spirulina is grown in water where it reproduces itself rapidly simply by dividing at a growth rate per day of around 30%. Producing Spirulina requires about ten times less water than for other vegetables and harvesting is possible during the whole year. Compared to Soya, Spirulina also allows a twentyfold harvest of protein per acre.

In our Farm, Spirulina is produced in tanks. Daily care is necessary for the Spirulina culture. This is taken care by trained rural Ladies, starting early in the morning with harvesting and stirring the Spirulina culture every twenty minutes throughout the day. Also, the quality of Spirulina is checked daily as well as fertilized to ensure the growth and quality of the culture. This fresh biomass can be either consumed directly, or be dried. The well dried product is properly stored to maintain its nutritional properties.

Spirulina is an ideal dietary supplement because it…

  • Contains the most remarkable concentration and combination of nutrients known in any food, plant, grain or herb.
  • Does not have a cellulose cell wall but a soft cell wall made of complex sugars and proteins that make the cell contents easily accessible for your body.
  • Has protein content 15 to 20% higher than that of meat, 35% higher than that of soya beans and 12% higher than that of eggs.
  • Is very rich in micronutrients, especially in Beta-carotene (Pro vitamin- A), Iron, Vitamin B12 and Gamma-Linolenic Acid.
SNF has very strong network with about 20 NGO’s and presently have the capacity to produce 5 metric ton / annum. Looking forward to double the capacity in next two years, to reach One hundred thousand beneficiaries.

Research

SPRTC involves in Local / National / International level researches with the collaboration of Educational institutions, Universities.
Publications:
  • Mobilizing private initiative as an answer to malnutrition: Production and marketing of Spirulina by village women in India-A feasibility study
  • Algal Biorefinery: An Integrated Approach – Ch-7 : Large scale Algal Biomass (Spirulina ) Production of Algae, D.Selvendran, Capital Publishing Company 2015. www.springer.com
  • Impact of Dietary Intervention with a Functional Food Supplement- Spirulina Incorporated Soup to combat Anemia among the coffee plantation laborers of Thandikudi Dr.Vasantha Esther Rani Associate Professor and Head, PG Dept of Home Science with Food Biotechnology, Fatima College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
  • A process technology for production of ready-to-serve (RTS) beverage using extract of fresh Spirulina platensis var lonor biomass harvested under optimized growth conditions. Dr.Prabuthas Scholar , Department Agricultural and Food Engineering, IIT Kharagpur.

Thesis on Spirulina by master students

  1. Effect of Supplementation of Spirulina Incorporated Chikkies among the Selected HIV Infected Children
    K.PRIYA(Master Thesis, April 2011)
  2. Impact of supplementation of Spirulina chikkies on the cognitive development of selected school going children of Sholavandan, Madurai District
    R. Radika (Master Thesis, April 2010)
  3. Supplementation of Spirulina incorporated wheat ladoos among selected anemic rural school going girls (10-12) years .
    L. Lekha (Master Thesis, April 2009)
  4. Effect of supplementation of Spirulina incorporated with lemon juice on working women
    B. Ameena Beebi (Master Thesis, April 2009)
  5. Effect of Spirulina on high fat diet induced obese albino Wister rats
    K. Sandhya (Master Thesis, April 2009)
  6. Standardization of Spirulina incorporated fruit jams
    T.S. Harinee (Master Thesis, April 2009)
  7. Impact of supplementation of Spirulina chikkies on the nutritional status of rural preschool children (3-6) years
    M. Kohila (Master Thesis, April 2008)
  8. Effect of supplementation of Spirulina in incorporated health mix among the selected anemic adolescent girls
    R. Priyadharsini (Master Thesis, April 2008) The results of this study show an avarage increase of 3 g/dl in the Haemoglobine level with anaemic adolescent girls after the usage of a combination of health mix and spirulina for 2 months, compared to an increase of only 1 g/dl with health mix only.

Presentations at International Conferences , Workshops and Recognitions:

“A Solution to micronutrient deficiencies in children particularly 0-5 years” -International Workshop on ‘ Micronutrients and Child health’ held at AIIMS, New Delhi (October 2009)
“Green Tongue” candy recipe has been selected as one of the finalist in the “ The 2011 International Algae Competition” www.algaecompetition.com
“ Small & Medium Scale production and Consumption of Spirulina” presented on International workshop on Algae technology, Hydrogen Production and Use of Algae biomass, Kolkata, India. (October 2011)
“Local Spirulina culturing at Village level” presented and awarded the best presentation at · APCAB’2012 Adelaide, Australia
“ Spirulina on Diabetes “ in 7th ANRAP International Seminar , Kathmandu, Nepal ( March 2013)
“Spirulina to combat Malnutrition” in ICAB’2013, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Kharagpur. (January 2013)
“Spirulina on Micronutrient Deficiencies” in ICAB’2014, Denmark Technical University, Lyngby, Denmark.(September2014)