Algae are a type of autotrophic plant with photosynthetic pigments in the plant kingdom, widely distributed in the ocean, inland waters, and other environments, and are one of the important food resources for humans; It has a wide variety of types, rich in nutrients, and is an important aquatic product resource with many uses such as food, medicine, ornamental, and health care. So far, over 6000 different types of seaweed have been discovered. According to the definition in GB 19643-2016 "National Food Safety Standard Algae and Their Products", algae are a type of aquatic plant that lacks true root, stem, and leaf differentiation and is the most primitive and lower level plant.
Algae have balanced, comprehensive, and easily absorbed nutrients by the human body, earning them the nickname of "mini nutrient banks"; Moreover, algal food is rich in minerals and vitamins, especially in iodine, which is higher than that of general terrestrial plant-based foods. It is a special food for supplementing iodine in most regions of China. In addition, algae also contain many physiological active substances, which have special health functions, such as immune regulation, antioxidant effects, blood sugar lowering, blood lipid lowering, intestinal moistening, and bowel movements.
Therefore, the nutritional value of algae has been recommended and praised by multiple authoritative institutions such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations World Food Association, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States.
1. The Development Status of Algae Raw Materials in China
Algae have a long history of application in China, and as early as in the Compendium of Materia Medica and the Compendium of Materia Medica, there are records of medicinal materials such as Auricularia auricula and Ge Xianmi. Currently, there are over 100 known edible algae species worldwide, of which China accounts for about 50%, mainly concentrated in the ocean.
Due to the special needs of algae for climate, water environment, light, and other factors, China's algae industry shows a clear concentration and distribution, mainly concentrated in the southeast region, with both north and south, but less in the western region.
According to statistics, the total production of artificially planted seaweed in the world reached 324 million tons in 2018, and China's share exceeded 57%, about 185 million tons; At present, the annual production of algae in China is about 10000 tons of dry powder, mainly consisting of Spirulina, Chlorella, Rainy Red Chlorella, and Saline Dunaliella, accounting for 80%, 10%, 8%, and 2% respectively.
Due to the short development history of China's algae industry, production models and facility construction are still in the exploratory stage, and algae enterprises often exhibit characteristics of small scale, wide dispersion, and incomplete factory production; At the same time, there are also very few related algae standards, mainly spirulina related standards, accounting for more than 50% of the total number of related algae standards. The content of the standards mainly focuses on planting and primary products, while there is a lack of relevant standards for refined and deeply processed products.
2. Development and application of algae raw materials
New food ingredients
New food ingredients include animals, plants, and microorganisms that do not have traditional eating habits. At present, the new food ingredients for algae in China include Dunaliella Salina (Ministry of Health Announcement No. 18 of 2009), DHA algae oil (Cryptocodinium cohnii, Ulkenia amoeboida, Schizochytrium sp.) (Ministry of Health Announcement No. 3 of 2010), Haematococcus pluvialis (Ministry of Health Announcement No. 17 of 2010), Chlorella pyrenoidea (Ministry of Health Announcement No. 19 of 2012) There are seven species: Euglena gracilis (Health and Family Planning Commission Announcement No. 10 of 2013), Nostoc sphaeroides (Health Commission Announcement No. 10 of 2018), and Nannochloropsis gaditana (Health Commission Announcement No. 5 of 2021).
Regular food
Regular food includes algae items listed in the Chinese Food Ingredient List, new food resources listed in regular food management, and items with a long history of consumption.
Algae, as a food, have their unique nutritional components, which not only taste delicious, but also have certain therapeutic effects. They mainly include seaweed, seaweed, seaweed, seaweed, seaweed, seaweed, seaweed, and spirulina maxima. The nutritional components in algae mainly include five categories: protein and amino acids (3% -8%), carbohydrates (20% -60%), fats (unsaturated fatty acids), vitamins, and inorganic trace elements.
Health food
Algae, as a special type of raw material in health food, is similar to fungi in that the selected raw materials and declared health functions also exhibit a relatively concentrated characteristic.
At present, among the edible algae health foods, spirulina, DHA algae oil, kelp/kelp and other raw materials are used the most frequently. Among them, kelp is a common food, and Kunbu (medicinal source of kelp or Kunbu), commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine, is a raw material for both food and medicine. DHA algae oil is a new food raw material, and there are two varieties of spirulina used in common food: Spirulina platensis and Spirulina maxima.
The commonly claimed health functions of algae health foods approved for registration include enhancing immunity, assisting in memory improvement, assisting in blood lipid lowering, weight loss, improving hypoxia tolerance, antioxidation, and auxiliary protective functions against radiation hazards.
The health function of the product is closely related to the algae edible ingredients used in the formula. For example, products with health function to assist in improving memory are mainly formulas containing DHA algae oil; Products with health benefits for weight loss mainly include formulas with added kelp/kunbu. Due to the use of spirulina products as the main ingredient in the formula, the health function of enhancing immunity is also the most common, accounting for over 50%.
3. The development direction of algae food
Adapt to consumer demand and develop diversified and serialized products. China has abundant algae resources and a long history of consuming and medicinal algae. With the deepening of the concept of healthy living, people's demand for algae health food is gradually increasing. Food and health food made from algae raw materials are deeply loved and pursued by people in the market.
However, the algae raw materials commonly used in food and health foods in China are still relatively limited, and there are few algae health foods that are widely recognized and accepted by consumers in the market. Algae products have not yet achieved diversification and series development, and the development of the entire industry is clearly lagging behind the increasingly strong market demand.
In response to this situation, the development of algae food and health food in China should follow scientific methods, adapt to local conditions and materials, combine traditional Chinese medicine with dialectical prescriptions, develop new dosage forms, new flavors, and new products, improve product quality and grade, and adapt to market diversity and multi-level needs.
Increase the intensity of deep processing and develop high value-added products. The core element of the development of algae food and health food is the application of functional active ingredients in algae, and the prerequisite for application is an understanding of the function and activity intensity of the active ingredients.
Therefore, further exploring new food raw materials for algae and isolating, purifying, and identifying active functional factors is the focus of future basic research on algae health food.
On the one hand, fully drawing on the research achievements of algae functional foods from other marine countries and regions around the world; On the other hand, by comprehensively utilizing modern biotechnology and new technologies in the food industry, and through the preparation of functional active substances, target structure modification, safety and quality control, and industrial development, we will develop advanced processing technologies, launch new types of algae health foods, increase their added value, and meet the society's demand for diversified, nutritious, safe, and high-quality algae foods.
4. Problems and Countermeasures in the Development of Algae Food
Control and monitor the quality and safety of raw materials from the source. Algae can enrich minerals such as iron, zinc, and calcium from the environment, which is considered a major nutritional advantage. However, it also accumulates heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, etc. from the environment. Heavy metal pollution can have a significant impact on the growth of algae and the safety of algal food. For example, excessive lead content can cause serious damage to the human body, especially the brain, nervous system, and kidneys of children; Excessive arsenic content can cause cancerous transformation of dermal basal cells and squamous cells.
Therefore, it is necessary to timely detect and effectively control the content of lead and arsenic in the utilization and processing of algae. The National Food Safety Standard for Algae and Their Products GB 19643 requires that the pollutant limit should comply with the provisions of GB 2762. In GB2762, the lead limit for algae and their products (excluding Spirulina and their products) is 1.0mg/kg, and the lead limit for Spirulina and its products is 2.0mg/kg.
In addition, during the cultivation process of algae, if the cultivation environment is contaminated by certain algae that can produce toxins, the toxins produced by toxic algae, such as microcystins (MCYSTs), may contaminate spirulina, posing a challenge to the safety of algal health foods.
The investigation found that there are varying degrees of microcystin contamination in the production process and commercial products of Spirulina in China. Considering the harm of microcystin to human health and the pollution situation in health foods containing algae, the limit of microcystin in algae health foods should be gradually established.
Strengthen the industrialization and standardization of food and health food production. At present, the research and development and production enterprises of algae food and health food in China are relatively small in scale, lacking macroeconomic regulation and overall planning. The standardization and standardization of processing and breeding are not enough, and the degree of industrialization is still relatively low. Therefore, there are problems such as low yield, unstable quality, and poor economies of scale.
Among them, many enterprises are still in a manual workshop style or semi manual, semi mechanized production state, and the products produced are difficult to meet the quality requirements of health food. In addition, further research and refinement are needed on the functions of active ingredients in algae.
Although most bioactive ingredients have been obtained through separation methods, there is still a lack of research on their efficacy, which seriously affects the development speed and product types of algal and health foods; The structure-activity relationship, dose-response relationship, and synergistic evaluation mechanism of the majority of active ingredients in approved algal health foods are still unclear, resulting in low product quality and serious low-level duplication.
Only by establishing a standard system from research and development to production as soon as possible can innovation and breakthroughs be made, and more new types of algae health foods can be launched in the market, making greater contributions to human health.
Algae, as an important aquatic resource in China, have high nutritional value, and China's abundant geographical conditions provide great convenience for its development. However, as a seafood product, algae can accumulate certain toxic substances such as heavy metals, and safety is the primary consideration in the development of food and health foods.
Therefore, it is necessary to deepen the processing and treatment technology of algae raw materials, actively participate in international algae related technology exchange meetings, fully learn successful technical cases at home and abroad, and continuously improve algae deep processing technology in combination with practice to improve the quality standards of algae raw materials in China.
In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the cultivation of the professional knowledge level of researchers, enhance the depth of research on the extraction process, mechanism of action, health functions, and related product development of algae active ingredients, so as to fully tap into the maximum health functions of algae functional foods and health foods, improve the market competitiveness of products, and effectively promote the development and industrial development of functional foods and health foods made from algae raw materials, Continuously breaking through existing technological barriers in development and enhancing the international influence of China's algae raw materials in health food.
Shaanxi Huike Botanical Development Co., Ltd. a integrated enterprise which is focus on natural products, Plant extract related products and services.We mainly focus on pharmaceutical, functional food, Freeze-dried powder,Natural Pigment,Homology of medicine and food,beverages and other business services.
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2023-12-28
Shaanxi Huike Botanical Development Co., Ltd.
