Research review paper

Micro-algae as a source of protein

E.W. Becker
Medical Clinic, Department II, University of Tbingen, Immunopathological Laboratory, Otfried-Mller-Str-10, 72076 Tbingen, Germany
Available online 23 November 2006
Abstract
About five decades ago, the mass production of certain protein-rich micro-algae was considered as a possibility to close the
predicted so called protein gap. Comprehensive analyses and nutritional studies have demonstrated that these algal proteins are of
high quality and comparable to conventional vegetable proteins. However, due to high production costs as well as technical
difficulties to incorporate the algal material into palatable food preparations, the propagation of algal protein is still in its infancy.
To date, the majority of micro-algal preparations are marketed as health food, as cosmetics or as animal feed.
2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
2. Chemical composition of micro-algae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
3. Properties of algal protein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
4. Nutritional quality of algal protein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
5. Application of algal protein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6. Algae for human consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
7. Algae as animal feed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
1. Introduction
Since the early fifties intense efforts have been made
to explore new alternate protein sources as food
supplements, primarily in anticipation of a repeatedly
predicted insufficient future protein supply. For these,
i.e. yeasts, fungi, bacteria and micro-algae, the name
Single Cell Protein (SCP) was coined to describe the
protein production from biomass, originating from
different microbial sources.
In the case of alga it has to be stressed that, due to
technical and economical reasons, it is not the general
intention to isolate and utilize the sole protein, but to
propagate the whole algal biomass. Hence, the term
SCP is not quite correct, because the micro-algal
material is definitely more than just protein. It has an
unusual breadth of nutritional quality when compared
to conventional plants in our diet and consists, next to
protein, of a broad spectrum of other nutritious
compounds viz. peptides, carbohydrates, lipids, vita-
mins, pigments, minerals and other valuable trace
elements. To date, world-wide various sophisticated
technologies are employed for mass production and
processing of photoautotrophic micro-algae, the annual
world production of all species is estimated to about
10,000t/y (Richmond, 2004; Becker, 1994).
2. Chemical composition of micro-algae
Many analyses of gross chemical composition of
different algae have been published in the literature. In
order to give a general overview on the major con-
stituents, selected data of various micro-algal species are
compiled in Table 1.
Out of the algae listed above, only very few have been
selected finally for large-scale production, i.e. the chlor-
ophyceae Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus obliquus and the
cyanobacteria Spirulina sp. and Athrospira sp. Chlorella is
a spherical, eukaryotic, unicellular alga with a diameter of
510 m. Its hemicellulotic cell wall accounts for the
rigidity of the cells. The green alga Scenedesmus is of
similar size but forms 4-celled colonies. Spirulina and
Arthrospira are photosynthetic, filamentous, spiral-shaped,
multi-cellular organisms attaining sizes of 0.5 mm in
length. They were classified formerly to the blue-green
algae, however, due to their prokaryotic structure they
nowadays belong to the cyanobacteria.
3. Properties of algal protein
Most of the figures published in the literature on
concentrations of algal proteins, dominantly enzymatic
proteins, are based on estimations of so called crude
protein, commonly used in evaluating food and feed.
This figure is obtained by hydrolysis of the algal
biomass and estimation of the total nitrogen. Since
besides protein also other constituents of micro-algae as
for instance nucleic acids, amines, glucosamides, and
cell wall materials contain nitrogen, this calculation
results in an overestimation of the true protein content.
According to reported figures the content of non-protein
nitrogen amounts to 12% in Scenedesmus obliquus,
11.5% in Spirulina and 6% in Dunaliella.
Proteins are composed of different amino acids and
hence the nutritional quality of a protein is determined
basically by the content, proportion and availability of
its amino acids.
Selected data on the amino acid profile of various
algae are compiled in Table 2 and compared with some
basic conventional food items and a reference pattern of
a well-balanced protein, recommended by WHO/FAO
(1973). It can be seen that the amino acid pattern of
almost all algae compares favourable with that of the
reference and the other food proteins (Becker, 2004).
4. Nutritional quality of algal protein
A more accurate method to evaluate the quality of
proteins is the determination of the protein efficiency
ratio (PER), expressed in terms of weight gain per
unit of protein consumed by the test animal in short-
term feeding trials. However, still more specific ni-
trogen balance methods can be applied to evaluate
the nutritive quality of a protein. One of these prin-
ciples is the estimation of the biological value (BV),
which is a measure of nitrogen retained for growth or
maintenance.
Table 1
General composition of different algae (% of dry matter)
Alga Protein Carbohydrates Lipids
Anabaena cylindrica 4356 2530 47
Aphanizomenon flos-aquae 62 23 3
Chlamydomonas rheinhardii 48 17 21
Chlorella pyrenoidosa 57 26 2
Chlorella vulgaris 5158 1217 1422
Dunaliella salina 57 32 6
Euglena gracilis 3961 1418 1420
Porphyridium cruentum 2839 4057 914
Scenedesmus obliquus 5056 1017 1214
Spirogyra sp. 620 3364 1121
Arthrospira maxima 6071 1316 67
Spirulina platensis 4663 814 49
Synechococcus sp. 63 15 11
Table 2
Amino acid profile of different algae as compared with conventional protein sources and the WHO/FAO (1973) reference pattern (g per 100 protein)
Source Ile Leu Val Lys Phe Tyr Met Cys Try Thr Ala Arg Asp Glu Gly His Pro Ser
WHO/FAO 4.0 7.0 5.0 5.5 6.0 3.5 1.0
Egg 6.6 8.8 7.2 5.3 5.8 4.2 3.2 2.3 1.7 5.0 6.2 11.0 12.6 4.2 2.4 4.2 6.9
Soybean 5.3 7.7 5.3 6.4 5.0 3.7 1.3 1.9 1.4 4.0 5.0 7.4 1.3 19.0 4.5 2.6 5.3 5.8
Chlorella vulgaris 3.8 8.8 5.5 8.4 5.0 3.4 2.2 1.4 2.1 4.8 7.9 6.4 9.0 11.6 5.8 2.0 4.8 4.1
Dunaliella bardawil 4.2 11.0 5.8 7.0 5.8 3.7 2.3 1.2 0.7 5.4 7.3 7.3 10.4 12.7 5.5 1.8 3.3 4.6
Scenedesmus obliquus 3.6 7.3 6.0 5.6 4.8 3.2 1.5 0.6 0.3 5.1 9.0 7.1 8.4 10.7 7.1 2.1 3.9 3.8
Arthrospira maxima 6.0 8.0 6.5 4.6 4.9 3.9 1.4 0.4 1.4 4.6 6.8 6.5 8.6 12.6 4.8 1.8 3.9 4.2
Spirulina platensis 6.7 9.8 7.1 4.8 5.3 5.3 2.5 0.9 0.3 6.2 9.5 7.3 11.8 10.3 5.7 2.2 4.2 5.1
Aphanizomenon sp. 2.9 5.2 3.2 3.5 2.5 0.7 0.2 0.7 3.3 4.7 3.8 4.7 7.8 2.9 0.9 2.9 2.9
Another parameter, which reflects the quality of a
protein, is the digestibility coefficient (DC). Finally, the
net protein utilization (NPU) equivalent to the
calculation BVDC is a measure both of the
digestibility of the protein and the biological value of
the amino acids absorbed from the food. Selected data of
such metabolic studies are summarized in Table 3.
The cellulosic cell wall, which represents about 10%
of the algal dry matter, poses a serious problem in
digesting/utilizing the algal biomass, since it is not
digestible for humans and other non-ruminants. Hence,
effective treatments are necessary to disrupt the cell wall
to make the protein and other constituents accessible for
digestive enzymes. Several authors have studied the
effect of different post-harvesting treatments on the
digestibility of various algal species by evaluating the
PER of the treated biomass, demonstrating the important
role of proper processing the algal biomass (Table 3).
5. Application of algal protein
Before a new food item is declared safe for human
consumption, it has to undergo a series of detailed
toxicological tests to prove the harmlessness of the
product. This applies especially to unconventional
protein sources, which is where micro-algae are
grouped. By considering the available information
on possible toxic properties or any other adverse
effects of the different algae tested so far, it can be
stated that none of these algae showed any negative
effect. No serious anomalies were found neither in
short-term or long-term feeding experiments nor in
studies on acute or chronic toxicity. All tests, in-
cluding human studies, failed to reveal any evidence
that would restrict the utilization of properly pro-
cessed algal material (Chamorro, 1980).
In conclusion, the investigations conducted so far
confirm that algal biomass shows promising qualities as
a novel source of protein, the average quality of most of
the algae examined is equal, sometimes even superior
compared to conventional plant proteins.
6. Algae for human consumption
Despite its high content of nutritious protein, dried
micro-algae have not gained significant importance as food
or food substitute yet. The major obstacles are the powder-
like consistency of the dried biomass, its dark green colour
and its slightly fishy smell, which limit the incorporation of
the algal material into conventional food stuff. Series of
experiments were run to modify or combine algal material
with known food items, by applying various methods such
as heating, baking, mixing. It was tried for instance to
include algae into bread or noodle preparations. However,
only small amounts could be added into bread before
appearance, dough consistence and taste became unpalat-
able; the appearance of the noodles changed to an
unattractive brownish colour. Incorporation of algae into
ravioli-like food items masked the colouring effect, but
also changed the taste considerably. Since it became obvi-
ous soon that these attempts will not solve the problems,
not much work was involved into other methods common
in food processing like for instance bleaching, emulsifying,
gelling, extrusion, etc. And another aspect has to be kept in
mind. In the developing countries, which are actually in
need of protein, additional problems arose because of
socio-ethnological barriers and very conservative food
restrictions against unknown food ingredients.
Last but not the least, the production costs for micro-
algae are still too high to compete with conventional
protein sources.
To date, the major sales of micro-algal preparations
can be found in the so-called health food market. The
encapsulated algal powder is sold as panacea against
almost all maladies, except diseases due to protein
malnutrition!
7. Algae as animal feed
The use of micro-algae as animal feed is more recent.
A large number of nutritional and toxicological evalua-
tions demonstrated the suitability of algae biomass as a
valuable feed supplement or substitute for conventional
protein sources (soybean meal, fish meal, rice bran, etc.).
The target domestic animal is poultry, mainly
because the incorporation of algae into poultry rations
offers the most promising prospect for their commercial
use in animal feeding. Another growing market is the
Table 3
Comparative data on biological value (BV), digestibility coefficient
(DC) net protein utilization (NPU) and protein efficiency ratio (PER),
of differently processed algae (Becker, 2004; Richmond, 2004)
Alga Processing BV DC NPU PER
Casein 87.8 95.1 83.4 2.50
Egg 94.7 94.2 89.1
Scenedesmus obliquus DD 75.0 88.0 67.3 1.99
Scenedesmus obliquus SD 72.1 72.5 52.0 1.14
Scenedesmus obliquus Cooked-SD 71.9 77.1 55.5 1.20
Chlorella sp. AD 52.9 59.4 31.4 0.84
Chlorella sp. DD 76.6 89.0 68.0 2.00
Coelastrum proboscideum DD 76.0 88.0 68.0 2.10
Spirulina sp. SD 77.6 83.9 65.0 1.78
Spirulina sp. DD 68.0 75.5 52.7 2.10
AD: air dried; DD: drum dried; SD: sun dried.
utilization of micro-algae in aquaculture. It is estimated
that about 30% of the current world algal production is
sold for animal feed application.
References
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productrice de protines (Spirulina de Sosa Texcoco S.A.) UF/
MEX/78/048, UNIDO/10.387; 1980.
FAO/WHO. Energy and protein requirement. Report of a Joint FAO/WHO
ad hoc Expert Committee, vol. 52. Geneva: FAO; 1973.
Richmond A. Handbook of Microalgal Culture. Biotechnology and
Applied Phycology. Oxford: Blackwell Science; 2004.