Insights
Notes from the laboratory
Technical writing on microalgae strains, fermentation and the ingredients that come out of them. Written for people who have to make decisions about this, not for search engines.
Most of the performance gap between a wild microalga and a commercially useful one is closed by selection and adaptation. What that work involves, and why we avoid recombinant routes.
Growing microalgae in the dark on a sugar source sounds like a contradiction. It is also the main reason algal ingredients are becoming affordable for mainstream food.
Some microalgae secrete a sulphated polysaccharide matrix into the water around them. Extracted, it behaves in ways that are hard to reproduce synthetically.
Chlorella is one of the most protein-dense biomasses available. It is also dark green, which is why most formulators never get to use the protein.