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spirulina
- Thread starter pravina
- Start date
HI Pravina,
Spirulina is an aquatic micro-organism often referred to as an algae, though it more closely resembles bacteria. It is used as a food supplement to combat malnutrition. 1 gram of spirulina is said to be as nutritious as 100g of spinach or carrots, and is cheaper. It has an extremely high protein content, with 60-70% of its dry weight consisting of a balanced mix of various essential amino acids. Further it is very rich in beta carotene (to produce vitamin A), iron, vitamin B12, ganna-linolenic acid and other micronutrients. It has no cell wall and is therefore very easy to digest.
Spirulina grows in solutions of specific minerals with the correct chemical balance and a pH of 8-11. There are various different recipes for this, depending on the budget available and the conditions. It needs a minimum of 20˚C to grow substantially, though a temperature of 35-37˚C is most effective. A good amount of sunlight is useful if the culture has a reasonable temperature and concentration. At very low temperature, low concentration of culture, or a culture that is struggling to grow.
Large Scale: If produced industrially: In green houses, large water tanks (raceway ponds), water, fertilizer, pump/ paddle wheel to move it.
Small scale: Materials:
Flask of live spirulina
tank – see manufacturing
An electric mini-pump – 220V, 5-7W
1000L of culture medium (fertilizer and mineral salts dissolved in drinking water)
Measuring tools – thermometer, Secchi disk, litmus paper, etc
Harvesting equipment
Extruder, dryer
Air compressor, such as aquarium ones.
A concentrated spirulina culture is then used to seed the pond containing culture medium. This can be obtained from culture floating on an existing pond, or recently harvested. This is mixed into the culture medium and allowed to grow. It should be regularly agitated using an electric pump or by stirring manually. The temperature, pH and concentration of algae should be monitored. Once the concentration increases to about 0.5g/L (use a Secchi disk to measure) it must be harvested. This can be done by simply filtering it through a cloth to obtain a “biomass” of about 10% dry matter per litre. The biomass obtained is then pressed in a cloth to produce a kind of cake. The culture medium can then be reused, by adding any of the ingredients which were used up by the Spirulina.
Spirulina is most nutritious in its wet form. However this lasts at most for a few days if refrigerated, and only a few hours at room temperature. Hence if it needs to be transported or stored it must be dried. If dried and packaged well it can be stored for at least a year without losing nutritional value. However if dried it acquires an unpleasant smell and taste, and is inconvenient to use. It can then also be combined with various other food products or simply packaged on its own.
The production of Spirulina requires manufacturing of a tank. The size of this depends on the scale of production, and the number of tanks. 1 tank of 18m2 produces approximately 150g of Spirulina per day.
Materials:
2 polyethylene sheets 2mm thick.
4 frames
3 bars (metal/bamboo, etc.)
Bricks, breeze blocks, packed earth, or planks for walls
Build up the walls, approximately 30cm high with packed earth, bricks or planks. The material to be used depends on the weather conditions, and presence of rodents, termites etc. Cover the sides and the bottom with one polyethylene sheet. Create a temporary compartment (200L) to produce Spirulina needed to seed the whole tank. Reinforce the walls with metal/bamboo frames and cover with a second plastic sheet.
Maintenance
The culture medium and tanks need to be protected from contamination by foreign algae, insects and toxicity. Also the level of the pond and amount of nutrients needs to be maintained by regularly replacing the fertilizers and water. Further the temperature and pH need to be maintained. Details on how this is done can be found in the manual. It is useful to replace a small amount of the solution with a completely fresh amount, to prevent deterioration of the culture medium.
Further, tanks usually need to be replaced or repaired after 3-4 years. Other equipment may also have to be replaced.
For information on marketing contact..
Pondicherry Spirulina Farms
Maraimalai Adigal Street,
ChinnaVeerampattinam,
Pondicherry- 605007,
India
Contact Number: 0091-9786700887
email: pyfarms@gmail.com
REgards
Ashwini S
Costs
An estimate for the total costs however is 350-500 rupees per kg of spirulina. The main costs involved in the local production of Spirulina are labour, nutrients, packaging, capital and administration. The costs of course depend on the local availability of materials.
Spirulina is an aquatic micro-organism often referred to as an algae, though it more closely resembles bacteria. It is used as a food supplement to combat malnutrition. 1 gram of spirulina is said to be as nutritious as 100g of spinach or carrots, and is cheaper. It has an extremely high protein content, with 60-70% of its dry weight consisting of a balanced mix of various essential amino acids. Further it is very rich in beta carotene (to produce vitamin A), iron, vitamin B12, ganna-linolenic acid and other micronutrients. It has no cell wall and is therefore very easy to digest.
Spirulina grows in solutions of specific minerals with the correct chemical balance and a pH of 8-11. There are various different recipes for this, depending on the budget available and the conditions. It needs a minimum of 20˚C to grow substantially, though a temperature of 35-37˚C is most effective. A good amount of sunlight is useful if the culture has a reasonable temperature and concentration. At very low temperature, low concentration of culture, or a culture that is struggling to grow.
Large Scale: If produced industrially: In green houses, large water tanks (raceway ponds), water, fertilizer, pump/ paddle wheel to move it.
Small scale: Materials:
Flask of live spirulina
tank – see manufacturing
An electric mini-pump – 220V, 5-7W
1000L of culture medium (fertilizer and mineral salts dissolved in drinking water)
Measuring tools – thermometer, Secchi disk, litmus paper, etc
Harvesting equipment
Extruder, dryer
Air compressor, such as aquarium ones.
A concentrated spirulina culture is then used to seed the pond containing culture medium. This can be obtained from culture floating on an existing pond, or recently harvested. This is mixed into the culture medium and allowed to grow. It should be regularly agitated using an electric pump or by stirring manually. The temperature, pH and concentration of algae should be monitored. Once the concentration increases to about 0.5g/L (use a Secchi disk to measure) it must be harvested. This can be done by simply filtering it through a cloth to obtain a “biomass” of about 10% dry matter per litre. The biomass obtained is then pressed in a cloth to produce a kind of cake. The culture medium can then be reused, by adding any of the ingredients which were used up by the Spirulina.
Spirulina is most nutritious in its wet form. However this lasts at most for a few days if refrigerated, and only a few hours at room temperature. Hence if it needs to be transported or stored it must be dried. If dried and packaged well it can be stored for at least a year without losing nutritional value. However if dried it acquires an unpleasant smell and taste, and is inconvenient to use. It can then also be combined with various other food products or simply packaged on its own.
The production of Spirulina requires manufacturing of a tank. The size of this depends on the scale of production, and the number of tanks. 1 tank of 18m2 produces approximately 150g of Spirulina per day.
Materials:
2 polyethylene sheets 2mm thick.
4 frames
3 bars (metal/bamboo, etc.)
Bricks, breeze blocks, packed earth, or planks for walls
Build up the walls, approximately 30cm high with packed earth, bricks or planks. The material to be used depends on the weather conditions, and presence of rodents, termites etc. Cover the sides and the bottom with one polyethylene sheet. Create a temporary compartment (200L) to produce Spirulina needed to seed the whole tank. Reinforce the walls with metal/bamboo frames and cover with a second plastic sheet.
Maintenance
The culture medium and tanks need to be protected from contamination by foreign algae, insects and toxicity. Also the level of the pond and amount of nutrients needs to be maintained by regularly replacing the fertilizers and water. Further the temperature and pH need to be maintained. Details on how this is done can be found in the manual. It is useful to replace a small amount of the solution with a completely fresh amount, to prevent deterioration of the culture medium.
Further, tanks usually need to be replaced or repaired after 3-4 years. Other equipment may also have to be replaced.
For information on marketing contact..
Pondicherry Spirulina Farms
Maraimalai Adigal Street,
ChinnaVeerampattinam,
Pondicherry- 605007,
India
Contact Number: 0091-9786700887
email: pyfarms@gmail.com
REgards
Ashwini S
Costs
An estimate for the total costs however is 350-500 rupees per kg of spirulina. The main costs involved in the local production of Spirulina are labour, nutrients, packaging, capital and administration. The costs of course depend on the local availability of materials.
We are the leading Marketer , Manufaturer of Spirulina Products at very lowest prices..
We are one among the few produced magnetised spirulina in the world with ISO certification.,
with very good quality at lowest prices with SGS certification... Protein - 70%
Products:
1)Spirulina Powder
1) Spirulina Capsules ( 120 capsules/500mg)
2) Spirulina hairoil (worlds only hair oil of spirulina 100ml)
-Spirulina hairoil almost reaaches all over the world today because of its feedbacks.
3)Spirulina Soap
Contact us
Mr.Sarath Kumar
email: parvathyexpim@gmail.com
TamilNadu, India
cell:+91 9003109726
We are one among the few produced magnetised spirulina in the world with ISO certification.,
with very good quality at lowest prices with SGS certification... Protein - 70%
Products:
1)Spirulina Powder
1) Spirulina Capsules ( 120 capsules/500mg)
2) Spirulina hairoil (worlds only hair oil of spirulina 100ml)
-Spirulina hairoil almost reaaches all over the world today because of its feedbacks.
3)Spirulina Soap
Contact us
Mr.Sarath Kumar
email: parvathyexpim@gmail.com
TamilNadu, India
cell:+91 9003109726
Pl let me know where this training will be given in Bangalore. Pl mail to krishnan.ramanathan1@gmaill.com