Nutrients in new packaging
Microalgae combine high levels of nutrients with environmental benefits and may come to play an important role in feeding a growing population.
The world faces intensifying challenges in food security and environmental sustainability as the global population is projected to soar to nearly 10 billion by 2050, necessitating an extraordinary 60% increase in food production to meet the nutritional needs of all. Yet, conventional agricultural practices are already contributing significantly to environmental issues, including soil degradation and greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, agriculture is responsible for around 21% of global greenhouse gases and significant reductions in soil organic carbon. Microalgae cultivation has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional farming practices, offering an incredible nutritional profile and substantial carbon-capturing abilities.
Algae for a healthier, more sustainable future
Microalgae, with their rich nutritional benefits, are especially well-suited to address dietary needs in a sustainable manner. Certain strains of microalgae contain over 60% protein with a protein yield up to 20 times higher per acre than soybeans; these organisms offer a nutrient-dense, environmentally friendly option for global food systems. However, despite their promise, microalgae are not found currently in many marketable products. Several reasons are behind this fact. Many microalgae are grown in open ponds so their composition and quality is unstable. Other microalgae are cultivated in closed system giving more stable quality but also a higher price. Therefore, microalgae products are often considered niche, expensive, and inaccessible to mainstream consumers. Another drawback has been sensorial properties of microalgae that are often in dark colours and harbour a strong and unpleasant taste. From the customer’s viewpoint, the variability in composition and undesirable sensory qualities of algae-based food ingredients (smell and taste), coupled with contamination risks, are major concerns. The food industry, renowned for its commitment to biosafety and reliability, finds itself challenged by the potential liabilities inherent in traditional algae cultivation. Processing of proteins and other ingredients from microalgae are also challenging as their strong cell walls often demand harsh extraction techniques.
Europe currently imports the majority of its algal biomass, producing just 0.6% of the world’s algae supply. To integrate microalgae into Europe’s protein plan and meet diverse market needs, substantial scale-up initiatives are required, if microalgae are to be a part of European sustainability goals such as the European Green Deal and the Bioeconomy Strategy.
Vaxa Technologies
One of those initiatives comes from the Icelandic company, Vaxa Technologies. The company’s journey began with a vision to bridge the gap between technology and sustainable food production. By 2018, it had already achieved a production milestone of 0.5 tonnes, establishing its first facility in collaboration with ON Power (Orka Náttúrunnar) to harness green electricity, natural CO, and water. ON Power runs a geothermal powerplant close to Reykjavík and produces and sells electricity in a responsible and environmentally friendly manner.
Vaxa has pioneered a breakthrough microalgae cultivation technology, addressing the challenges of production costs, sustainability, and ensuring consistent, high-quality nutritional value in their algae products. The company operates their algae production facility in Iceland, in the zero-waste zone uniquely integrated with ON Power’s geothermal power plant. Their pioneering approach and technology, backed by patents, leverage the natural by-products of the Hellisheiði Geothermal Power Station. They utilize geothermal waste streams, specifically, captured natural CO, as a key feed for their microalgae, transforming this waste and clean energy into sustainable food products. This unique concept uses ‑‑clean electricity to support LED-lighting and downstream processing, cold and hot wastewater streams for thermal management, and natural CO for biofixation—all directly from the power plant. This synergy provides all essential resources for efficient and sustainable algae growth, underlining Vaxa’s commitment to innovative, environmentally responsible food production.
One of the microalgae that is promising as an alternative protein source is Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina). Spirulina is a cyanobacteria that is wellknown for its high content of phycocyanin (CPC), a phycobiliprotein that presents many interesting properties. The phycobiliproteins are deep-coloured and water-soluble proteins that can be found in most cyanobacteria and microalgae.
Vaxa’s nutrient-rich Spirulina biomass features a consistent composition providing highquality proteins (essential amino acids 10.2 g/100 g), active B12 (1.8 mcg/100 g), and bioavailable iron (30 mg/100 g), thus offering three-dimensional nutritional parity to beef. Every replacement of 1 kg of beef by Vaxa Spirulina saves ~300 sq. m of land, ~1,000 cubic m of fresh water, and ~100 kg CO2e. The Vaxa Spirulina also contains 12 vitamins (including E & K), essential minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and zinc), and antioxidants/carotenoids (betacarotene, lutein, zeaxanthin). To tackle the challenges associated with algae-based food ingredients, Vaxa Technologies has developed an innovative solution. This breakthrough stands as the first and only certified carbon- negative algae-based food ingredient manufacturing process. Their innovative approach ensures the delivery of superior nutritional values, while making ingredients with indiscernible smell or taste in the end product. The high nutritional quality means that only a minimal inclusion rate is required to obtain tangible nutritional and functional benefits, which encourages widespread adoption for the first time of algae-based food ingredients.
Pioneering sustainable food solutions through innovation
Matis is a leading food research and innovation institute in Iceland with broad know-how in product development, quality assessment, consumer studies, environmental and sustainability assessment. The institute has pilot plant facilities including centrifuges, filtration units (ultra, micro and osmosis) and driers for development and production of high value ingredients from biomass. Matis is a national reference lab running microbiological and chemical analysis laboratories as well as sensory analysis. Vaxa and Matis have worked on several research projects in relation to utilisation of Spirulina with the aim to increase even further the nutritional, bioactive and functional properties of products as well as their sensorial properties. These include use of enzymes and other processes with good results. As an example, the use of enzymes has made it possible to increase the antioxidant properties of Spirulina products, and has a positive effect on their sensorial attributes. Vaxa, Matis and the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) along with Icelandic and Danish food producers have joined forces in projects such as Iceblue and Ultra-B12 funded by Eurostars where the aim is to bring products to the market with exceptional nutritional properties. Microalgae promises to be at the forefront as an accessible, nutritious, and cost-effective alternatives to traditional food sources.
Margrét Geirsdottir, Matis,
mg@matis.is