With the growth of plant protein, algal protein will gain more attention

Human protein intake can be divided into two categories: animal protein and plant protein. Animal protein is more easily absorbed by the body and contains essential amino acids, but its disadvantage is that its saturated fatty acids can affect the heart and cerebral blood vessels. Excessive intake increases the risk of coronary heart disease. With the improvement of people’s quality of life, the demand for protein is also increasing, but the production gap of protein is still large, so people began to pursue different sources of protein – plant protein. According to the prediction of professional institutions, the plant protein market will grow rapidly in the next 10 years. By 2030, the global plant protein market will soar from the current US $4.6 billion to US $85 billion. Seaweed food rich in nutrients and other health factors is promoting the development of its global market. Algae protein will be an important raw material of protein food in the future.

Food and nutrition in Europe research found that edible algae contains eight kinds of amino acids necessary for human body, and its composition is reasonable. It has adjuvant therapeutic effect on hypertension, diabetes, cancer and other diseases. Similar to traditional sources such as soybean, whey and pea, seaweed protein has great appeal in the nutritional food industry because of its rich nutrition.

Unique advantages

The protein accumulation ability of microalgae is the strongest among algae. The protein content of some Chlorella and spirulina reached 70% of dry weight. The dried seaweed powder is almost equivalent to the protein concentrate powder, and the cellulose can reach the standard of protein separation. This advantage is unmatched by terrestrial plants. In addition to high protein content, there are four main advantages

As unicellular or multicellular algae, microalgae have high controllability in growth characteristics and product composition, which is due to its billions of years of evolution. By changing the nutrient elements in the culture medium, we can induce and regulate the protein, oil and some high-value secondary metabolites in microalgae cells, so as to obtain the target products with maximum efficiency.

The industrial chain structure of plant protein is “agriculture + industry”, while algae protein is pure industrial production. From algae cultivation to protein production, it is the combination of biological engineering and chemical engineering, and does not need agricultural food raw materials. This also determines its high degree of controllability, including food safety, quality and price.

Taking Spirulina cultivated in racetrack pond as an example, the yield per unit area is very high. The annual yield of spirulina powder is more than 900 kg / acre (protein content is 60%), which is two orders of magnitude higher than soybean protein and pea protein. High degree of intensive production and flexible distribution of producing areas.

Microalgae production does not involve chemical fertilizers and pesticides, water resources can also be recycled, and there is basically no waste discharge. Among them, the carbon emission of photoautotrophic heterotrophic hybrid was significantly lower than that of plant protein production.

Algal protein market can be subdivided into dietary supplements, food and beverage, animal feed, cosmetics and so on.