Growing and Drying Spirulina/Arthrospira for Producing Food and Nutraceuticals: A Review

摘要

Microalgae-cianobacteria Arthrospira (trade name Spirulina) are cultivated worldwide due to its nutritional and therapeutic qualities. The aim of this review is to summarize production parameters affecting quality of Arthrospira. The biochemical composition of microalgae foodstuff is mostly determined by growing conditions, e.g., growth media, light intensity, temperature, as well as drying method and conditions. This review showed that prospective directions for optimization of costs to cultivate Arthrospira indoors are: effective use of light, e.g., using effective artificial light sources like light emitting diodes (LED) in color with regards to necessary component in Arthrospira; mixotropic growth using growth media from food processing by-product/waste; and selection of Arthrospira strain according to available temperature. Common methods of algae drying for food and nutraceuticals are solar drying, convective drying, spray drying, and lyophilization. The drying method and regime can greatly affect the amount of biologically active compounds and organoleptic quality.