Cultivating microalgae for use in food
15 Oct 2013
Researchers at Uni Research, Norway are attempting to use microalgae in future food production, something that has not been previously achieved.
Through the Miracles research project, Uni Research experts (UR) will exploit aquaculture as a new source of food production.
Microalgae are considered the “marine rainforest” - they convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into valuable biomass by means of photosynthesis.
Also called phytoplankton, microalgae can grow up to 50 times faster than land plants. One gram of microalgae can grow to several tonnes in only ten days.
With such a high productivity rate, this resource offers a potential for intensive production of food or animal feed in the future.
Researchers at UR are now collaborating with 25 European partners to work on the EU-funded project Miracles project over the next five years. The project aims to develop concrete value chains for value creation using microalgae.
The research partners will collaborate with some of the world’s largest companies in the food, dietary supplements and pharmaceuticals industries to determine how microalgae can best be produced and used to develop products.
